Rehabilitate
by Gemtail
Summary: Silvally is a special pokemon even if created by humans. But, you cannot help but wonder how they will come to be rehabilitated. We look into the lives of all of them and the trainers that help them. It's a rough road for everyone involved. Recovering lab experiments are tough to rehabilitate. T rating might go up depending. You've been warned. Pairings take place later on.
1. Scared

**Well... off to another story. This chapter will likely be edited a few times due to the size but the basic story won't change.  
**

* * *

He laid in his enclosure, unable to rest his head properly because of the spikes on the neck of his helmet. The pokemon's comfort was never taken into consideration. Not since he had been dubbed a failure and renamed. His body hurt from recent procedures. Not only that but he was force to battle in this condition. He rested his head as best he could, propping up the mask using the spikes like legs. Type: Null could never sleep comfortably, only his ball provided enough comfort. He didn't like his ball at all but unless he wanted to never sleep or rest, he had to go in every now and then. For some reason, he had been brought out of his stasis and they altered him a little more as well as did other procedures despite the fact that they were technically done with him. He didn't understand why. Still though, all he could do was wait.

It turns out that he was only brought out of his stasis to be shown off by the lady with the green eyes. Null didn't like her at all. He glared at her through the glass. Null wanted to destroy her. She wasn't right in the head and he could sense it. She was the reason he was here and he wanted revenge. But today, there was a boy next to her. A boy with the same eyes and similar hair. His hair even had lighter highlights of silver in it like the woman. But, he was different from the other scientists that Null had seen.

This boy looked... scared and angry. He was trying to keep an emotionless facade but Null could read this boy even while others can't. He was angry upon seeing Null but when his mother ran her hand through his hair, he went rigid with fear. This boy looked young, about ten years old if Null had to guess. This boy hated seeing pokemon hurt and seeing how Null was being kept angered him. But, at the same time, he feared his mother. She didn't run her hands through his hair as a show of love, she did it more as a way to intimidate.

"Go on, Gladion. Approach him if you want. He can't hurt you." The woman said.

Gladion? So that was this kid's name. Gladion hesitantly approached the glass. Null got up and approached him. The woman seemed delighted, saying something about how Null usually didn't approach anyone. Null scanned the boy with his eyes, taking in every detail and every expression and action. The boy was wearing formal clothes, all of his clothes were white in color for the most part. His hair looked like it had been done up, too. Except for his bangs, which only came down just a little past his eyebrows, the rest of his hair was slicked back. Null then looked him in the eye and suddenly, the synthetic pokemon and Gladion connected. This boy was just as much of a prisoner as Null was. The pokemon didn't know it for sure but he could feel it. This boy had a pure feeling, an innocence that none of the other Aether workers had. He was also not under that weird influence that all of the workers seemed to be under. Both of them were just here to be Lusamine's personal tools and nothing more.

"Okay, that's enough. Return him to his ball, Faba. Gladion and I will be leaving now." The woman said.

"Yes, ma'am." Faba said, returning null to his pokeball.

Null's eyes didn't leave Gladion's for a single moment as he disappeared out of sight and into the ball. He even put his front paw(or claw?) on the glass before he was returned, right where Gladion's left hand was.

"Come, Gladion." Lusamine said as she walked out of the room.

"Mother, what will you do with it?" Gladion asked.

"He'll be frozen and put on display. He's too magnificent to waste." Lusamine said.

Gladion's left hand balled into a fist, a few knuckles cracking. How on earth can she do this to a creature like that? That's no life for any living thing. His mind was swimming in thought as they left the room. The reason why Gladion was being shown the labs was because he was finally of age to potentially inherit Aether Paradise, should anything happen to his mother. Gladion acted like he was on board with everything although he usually kept his face emotionless. It was best to not show any kind of emotion around Lusamine. You never know what she might take from that. But all Gladion could feel was anger towards her. It was bad enough that she completely changed into the woman she is today but Gladion never truly knew how cruel she had become until that day. And it both angered and terrified him because this was his mother now... she used to be so passionate about pokemon and she used to truly love what the Aether Foundation stood for. He remembered when she would help with the sick, injured, or traumatized pokemon. He, Lillie, and her even used to lie in the same bed together some nights.

But now, she was cold hearted and only spent time with him and Lillie to either dress them, show them off, or there would be business regarding her work. Sometimes, he'd just wake up on a bed and Lusamine would give him a wicked smile like she had done something. He never have the nerve to ask what she had done. He'd have a lingering feeling of anxiety and violation afterwards. He didn't want to know because he really didn't want his image of her anymore ruined than it had been. He wanted to be able to think 'At least she hasn't hurt me' or something like that. Even if after some of those times, a mysterious scar or two would appear on his body. Lusamine suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway and Gladion stopped immediately.

"I have one last thing I want you to do before I let you go." She said.

"What is it?" Gladion asked.

"I want you to drink this." She said, giving him a small flask of an ominous transparent purple liquid.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I require all my workers to take it. It was extracted from Nihilego. You're old enough now. Welcome to the workforce, son. From today forward, you are truly part of the Aether Foundation." She said with a cheerful smile.

She had mentioned that pokemon again. Lusamine never let him hear the end of it. He didn't like this though. He's seen the other workers, some of the most nicest people he's met change because of this liquid. It has addictive qualities to it, he knew that. He's seen the workers drink this before. He knew that if he drank that, he might never be the same person anymore.

"I'm not feeling very good, mother. Maybe another time?" He asked.

"I want you to take it." She said, her eyes glaring coldly.

Gladion felt a cold sweat break out through his body. She had that angry look on her face again like she's about to go out for blood. But, despite his fear, he couldn't bring himself to take whatever kind of liquid that was. He had a bad feeling about it.

"Mother, I'm really not feeling very good right now." He said.

"Take it. It'll make you feel better." She said.

"But-" He began.

"Take it or I will make you take it." She threatened.

Gladion felt himself grow even more scared. His mother never has raised a hand to him yet but with as bad as she's gotten, he wouldn't put it past her anymore. He already knew that she had changed since his father had left but he never let himself see how bad the extent was. He always just assumed that she was just too busy and that was why she had gotten the way she was. But, today, he was forced to face the woman his mother had truly become and it scared and angered Gladion. But mostly, it broke him to see her like this. Wasn't this the same woman who danced with Lillie in the rain? The same woman he had read bed time stories with? The same woman who used to caress his cheek and call him her beautiful son? This woman... whom sworn her loving heart to everyone, people or pokemon, under her care had turned into a monster. Then a familiar set of steps came up from behind him.

"Mrs. President, how about I take him? I'll make sure he takes it before bed." Wicke said.

Lusamine glared at Gladion but then let out a breath before putting on her fake facade of being kind. She gave the flask to Wicke.

"Very well. Go ahead but don't let him go to bed without it." She said.

"Of course, my lady." Wicke said.

Lusamine then took her leave. Wicke then threw away the flask in a nearby trash can when she was sure no one was around.

"What is that stuff?" Gladion asked.

"Poison from Nihilego. Whatever you do, don't drink it. Ever since the workers here started drinking it, it's caused them to change." Wicke said.

"Why don't you take it?" Gladion asked.

"Being required to take a liquid for a job sounds a little suspicious, don't you think? Especially when everyone else seems to be addicted to it. Some of the workers lose their minds if they don't get it." Wicke said.

Gladion just felt more and more afraid of this place. He used to think that this place was here to save pokemon who have been injured, neglected, abandoned, or traumatized. But, now he realizes that this place only uses that as a mask to hide what they were really doing. This place that used to be his home now felt alien to him. He didn't like it here anymore. Being here made him feel sick and betrayed. Had he been living a lie this whole time?

"Come along, young master. Let's get you back to your room." Wicke said.

Gladion followed her. He felt so dazed after everything he had seen. He almost couldn't believe that this is who his mother had become. A painful lump in his throat had formed since she had started to show him the labs. He felt like he was going to choke on it now. This was his mother now...

"If it changes who people are, do you think she'll notice if I don't take it?" Gladion asked.

"You'll have to obey her every word. The liquid makes everyone here loyal to her and none of them ask questions. I've only gotten away with it because my job is to keep an eye on you and your sister as well as help pokemon which isn't something I'll argue with. She's trying to start you on it today because you are finally old enough to safely drink it." Wicke said.

Gladion felt troubled. Safely drink it? Is this stuff even safe at all? It is a poison after all. Does this mean that the workers here might get sick? Are they here entirely on their own will? The more he sees of this place, the worse it gets. He used to look forward to this day when he would finally be able to join the rest of the workers out in the field. He could go on his own journey and rescue pokemon along the way while he was at it and complete his island challenge. He'd become a strong trainer and president that the Aether Foundation could be proud of but now, he doesn't want it... no, he can't want this no matter how much he tries to think of some kind of justification behind what had been going on here behind closed doors. He decided to force himself to stop thinking about it and focus on something else: Type: Null.

"Wicke... Mother is going to freeze Type: Null. Is there a way I could stop it?" Gladion asked.

"Gladion, I'm afraid there isn't. Nothing can be done. What your mother says goes. I can't do anything. I'll risk losing my job but you and Lillie need me. I can't just leave you here with things the way they are. One of the workers around here needs to be sane." She said.

"I can't let her do this. That pokemon doesn't deserve it." Gladion said.

They walked down the hall way quietly and got into the elevator. Soon, they were on the main floor. Gladion could feel the anxiety of the situation claw at him. He felt so angry that he couldn't do anything about any of this. What can he do? He had to do something! He couldn't just let his own mother do this! How could he just stand by and let her get this bad?! Gladion regretted leaving his mother alone to grieve. Maybe if he had tried to get involved with her more, he could have stopped this. Wicke, however, saw an opportunity. She was a very clever woman and has smuggled things in and out of the labs before without fail or anyone's notice. Lusamine doesn't even suspect a thing and never does. Wicke knew that now was the time that she could finally help Gladion or else risk losing him forever.

"Maybe you should do something about it." Wicke said.

"What do you mean?" Gladion asked.

"I mean... I'm saying that I think it's time you left and went on your own journey." Wicke said.

"But I can't just leave Lillie here." Gladion said.

"I will keep an eye on her. I always have and your mother won't bother much with her until she's old enough. But Gladion, you need to get out of here. The longer you stay, the more she will try to get you to take Nihilego's poison and once that happens, you won't be yourself anymore. You will be nothing more than a slave and you won't know it nor be able to fight it. You're not safe here anymore, Gladion." Wicke said.

"I... I don't know if I can do it." Gladion stammered.

"You need to be brave, Gladion. You have to. Especially if you want to take Type: Null with you. Please, give it some thought, young master. I can't bear to see you change into someone you're not." Wicke pleaded.

Soon, they made it to the mansion. Lillie was in the play room and she noticed her big brother. She ran up to him in her small, white, frilly dress. He smiled at her to mask how troubled he really was as she hugged him. He hugged her back. Lillie was almost three years younger than her brother. They're very close and have been each others best friend since Lillie had been born. They were inseparable and the thought of leaving her was nauseating to Gladion. How could he leave her like this? Especially with how their mother is? She's not going to be happy with him for leaving at all. He hoped that she won't take it out on Lillie if he were to leave.

"Gladdy!" She said joyfully.

"Lillie, how many times have I told you that I hate that name?" He chuckled.

"But I love you." She said, looking up at him with lillipup eyes.

He chuckled, his hand running through her hair. She was everything to him. Would she ever forgive him for walking out on her? How could he say he's ever done anything good for her if he were to run away?

"You're lucky you're cute." He said with a smile.

"Let's play!" She said.

"Okay, what should we play?" He asked her.

"Hide and seek!" She said excitedly.

As Gladion played with her, he gave it more thought... and then he knew that this was going to be the last night that he would play with her. He knew that if he took the poison, he would become just like mother and doing that would be even worse than running away. It was better to leave than to stay and ruin everything about himself. Besides, there was no telling what will happen to Lillie if Gladion also became like his mother. So he made the most of his last day with her. Wicke made sure they ate a decent supper and even sneaked in some ice cream although it was a rare treat. Lusamine never allowed for them to eat unhealthy foods, opting to only give them a low calorie diet but filling enough to not warrant any complaints. Ice cream or such treats were only allowed if Lusamine herself felt they had been good, which was very rare. But, Wicke would give them something every now and then.

They played hide and seek, played with some of the rescued pokemon, played a few board games, and then stared up at the night sky to enjoy the stars and the moon. Night time was always Gladion's favorite time because the night sky was so breath taking. Soon, it was bed time. Gladion made sure to help Lillie bathe although he was starting to get too old to bathe with her. Nevertheless, he helped her out with her hair and back. Lillie did not know why he was being nicer than usual but she decided not to question it. They got into a splash fight, completely soaking the bathroom much to the maid's chagrin but the laughter filling the room made up for it. Once out of the bath, he brushed her hair for her, another unusual but not unwelcome action. They made a blanket fort in her room and he read her a book before bed time.

"Gladion?" She asked.

"What?" He asked.

"We'll always be best friends, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, always." He asked.

She smiled and hugged his arm. He smiled at her warmly. She was practically his only family. His smile faltered as he remembered that tonight was his last night with her. He put the book down and put an arm around her.

"Lillie, I'm going to be busy a lot more now that I'm older. So, just know that there's nothing you can say or do that will make me love you any less. No matter what." Gladion said.

"Promise?" Lillie asked.

"I promise." He said.

She smiled and leaned against him.

"You're the best big brother ever." She said.

They laid like that for a long time until she fell asleep against him. He had to leave her now but, he was glad he at least made today a good day for her. He kissed her on the forehead before tucking her in. He left a note next to her bed before leaving the room. Leaving her room was probably the hardest thing he had to do. His only family left and he had to walk away from it. He then went back to his room. He saw Wicke outside his door, waiting. She stood up and walked up to him as he came down the hall.

"Have you decided, young master?" Wicke asked.

"Yeah... I'm leaving with Type: Null. Do you know how I can get to him?" He asked.

"No need. I already got him for you." Wicke said, putting the pokeball in his hand.

"How did you...?" Gladion asked.

"It's a woman's secret." She said with a wink.

She was favored among the male staff and Faba especially had it bad for her charm. She didn't just have a sweet personality to charm her way to get what she wants but her curvy body had many aflutter over her. But, Faba took a little more than just sweet talk to distract: he may be a sucker for her but, he was clever enough to not let her charm work unless he gets something from it. Luckily, Faba didn't notice she walked out of the lab with Type: Null and the cameras were down for maintenance while they were in there. He was in too much of a happy daze to realize anything. Anyhow, no one would have wanted to record what she had done to distract him. It wasn't Wicke's proudest of moments but, she'd do it again if it meant saving Gladion and Lillie. Gladion went into his room to gather his things. He looked around his dresser and frowned. Even his most casual clothes looked too white except for some black slacks. He'll stick out at this rate especially if the Aether foundation tries looking for him.

"I need to wear something that won't make me stick out so much. Something that doesn't look so... Aether." Gladion said.

"I brought these. They were my nephew's clothes. I know it's kind of the opposite of what you're used to but I think it works. My nephew really liked to wear dark clothes at your age. The sweatshirt might be a little big for the moment but I know you'll grow into it in couple years." She said.

Gladion took the bag and looked at the clothes. They were all black.

"These clothes? People are going to think I'm part of Team Skull at this rate." He said.

"Well you don't want to look like you belong here, do you?" She asked.

"No, no I don't. They'll work. I'll wear them." He said.

Gladion put on the black pants and dark grey sweatshirt with black sleeves. These clothes made him look almost like a punk. All that was missing was a few rips and he'd be set. He wasn't used to a look like this but at least it kept his skin from being exposed to the sun: he burned easily. These clothes were a little big on him except the pants were a little short (they'll be shorter on him when he's older). Wicke gave him a red bag that strapped around his waist and some red shoes.

"I will take you to Akala island by boat. I've gathered some money for you to take along with a private travel card. Go to the Akala Motel on route five and stay there. You have enough money for it. Also, make sure to take it slow with Type: Null. He's never been outside the lab before much less had a positive experience around humans. But you remember how we've humanized other pokemon before so I think you can handle it. But keep his ball close. The moment he shows any signs of trouble, return him to his ball asap." She said.

Gladion nodded and they sneaked out to the docks where a boat was waiting for them. They got in and soon, they left. Gladion was scared. He had never been outside Aether Paradise before. Going to the islands was something completely new to him. He used to be so excited for this day when he would finally leave to go on his journey but now, he knew he was completely alone in this journey. He can't just go back home to check with anyone. He only had himself. Akala island came closer into view, the few lights sparkled in the distance, the moon in the sky lighting the rest of the night. Everything about today then started to hit Gladion hard like a kick in the gut. Hot tears brimmed his eyes and he held his head in his hands. His mother... his mother was dead. She might as well be dead. That person in there was not his mother anymore. The one woman he loved most, his own mother, has betrayed everything thing he had been raised into being. Lillie will be alone but his only comfort was that he knew Wicke would take care of her and, if the time came, help her escape. His own home was no longer home. In just one day, everything had been ripped apart and distorted into something else. He didn't belong home anymore. Wicke picked up on Gladion's feelings.

"I'm sorry your tenth birthday turned out like this." Wicke said.

"I was going to find out eventually. I'm fine." Gladion said, quickly shaking off his sadness.

"Yeah..." Wicke said, a sadness settling over her as the impact of the situation finally hit her.

That will be the last time she will likely talk to him for awhile. But, she knew things were better this way. They got to the docks and Gladion stepped off of the boat. Wicke joined him and though tried to keep a cheerful smile, she could already feel herself breaking. Gladion is the closest thing to a son she had ever had. Gladion also felt sad for leaving her. Wicke was probably the closest thing to a mother he's had and it was especially tough to see him leave. She gently ran her hand through his bangs, an action that would normally scare him if anyone else did. But, coming from her, it was soothing.

"Be safe out there, okay?" She said.

"Yeah." Gladion said.

She hugged him and he hugged her back, a few tears escaping from his eyes. She pulled away and looked at him, her own tears falling down her face. He looked back up at her.

"Take good care of Lillie. I'm counting on you." He said.

"Yeah, I will. You don't even have to tell me." Wicke said.

"Well... good bye." He said.

"Good bye, young master." She said sadly.

He walked down the dock, not looking back. If he did look back, he knew that it would only make it harder for him. He wiped away the last of his tears and moved forward with so much fear and uncertainty but also with a little hope. It was this hope that helped him move along.

* * *

He had gotten to the motel just fine. Before Wicke left him, she gave him all of the notes that were taken while studying type: Null. All of his information was in there. Gladion paid the rent for the room for two years. He still had plenty of money, too. Anyway, before letting Type: Null out of the pokeball, Gladion poured over the notes, reading as much of the pages that he could. First of all, type: Null cannot eat solids because the helmet prevents that. So it has to have it's food blended or have small pieces put in through the bottom. The lab only gave him a blended mix to eat through a tube. The hole in his mask was big enough for maybe a poffin or a small leppa berry. It didn't leave for very many feeding options.

It's body was covered in mostly fur but some of its body had patches of scales. The one he has is a male that is, surprisingly, not sterile. In fact, it is hinted that he may have been bred to potentially another if Gladion had left him. The helmet does not allow for much comfort which Gladion already knew. The helmet is made of metal and is very heavy. The helmet makes it difficult for Null to groom itself and its feathers used to be white.

His vocal chords were also damaged, too. It was unknown why that particular part of the notes had been cut out. These were top secret notes so the fact that there were parts missing was a little baffling but then, he had been told that if data was useless, it was cut out. Still though, wouldn't there at least be a reason why his vocal chords were damaged? It was hard to know.

Gladion set to work and went to the supermarket to buy some small treats that he might be able to fit through the hole in Null's mask. Null, being part of every pokemon, doesn't have a true set diet and can eat both meat and plants. So Gladion just bought some berries and a knife to dice them with as well as some mini poffins. He also bought some house training pads knowing that Null was probably used to defecating and urinating indoors. He got back to the hotel and put the berries in the mini fridge before closing the door and the window shutters. He drew all the curtains and then left only the lamp next to the bed on. He took a deep breath and released Type: Null.

Gladion kept still and pretended to stare at the floor like there was something more interesting. Null looked around the room and grew nervous. It was frozen with fear but Gladion kept still and waited, his hand gripping the pokeball tightly. Null didn't move for a long time and it looked around the room, his eyes wide in fear, it's breathing heavy. But after awhile, it soon realized that there was nothing dangerous about this room. So he took a hesitant step. His claws on a carpet floor even startled him because he had never been on one before. He took a few minutes just to get used to the sound and feel of his own feet on the weird floor. Gladion watched from the corner of his eye. Null soon started to investigate the room, sniffing everything. He started with the tv, then the window curtains, the pokemon bed next to the bed, the bed, and basically everything in the room except Gladion. He paused at Gladion, backed away nervously and explored the rest of the room. He didn't get to Gladion until he was done looking at everything else.

Finally, type: null got to him and Gladion went rigid as he sniffed his hand. Gladion moved a finger hesitantly and Type: Null jumped back, letting out a growl. The growl resonated through the metal mask, making him sound more threatening. He backed away from Gladion and paced, growling at him and looking at him skeptically. Gladion looked at him slowly, the pokeball at the ready in case Null tried to make a move to hurt him. They locked eyes but instead of threatening or attacking him, Null cowered in the corner, trying to get as far away from Gladion as he could while growling at him. Honestly, he looked pathetic. Gladion remembered that Null usually got prodded with something that would hurt him if a human entered his cell. He essentially expected Gladion to do the same. If the boy wanted to tame Null, he needed to start by showing him a positive thing.

Gladion slowly reached into his pocket and grabbed a one of the mini poffin snacks and tossed it over to type: Null. But it scared the pokemon even more and he tried to get away from it, jamming himself against the wall and clawing at the carpet frantically. He was too terrified to be calmed down by just sitting still but Gladion didn't want to return him just yet. So Gladion got up and slowly approached type: null. He grabbed the poffin from the floor. Type: Null just stared at him, hissing but completely frozen in place. Gladion popped the poffin in his mouth and chewed it slowly, it's flavor permeating his mouth. Hmmm... bluk berry flavored. Gladion took another one out of his pocket and showed it to Type: Null and he just stared at Gladion. Gladion also ate it to show him what they were for. Null then looked at him curiously, though still with his back pressed against the corner.

Gladion put a handful of mini poffins on the floor and backed away from type: null. Type: Null hesitantly inched himself forward to the pile of mini poffins. Like a vacuum cleaner, he sucked one up into his mask through the hole at the bottom. Gladion could hear the poffins crunch in its teeth noisily, the echo from the mask made it even louder. One by one, Null sucked up the treats in through his mask until the pile was gone. He then looked at Gladion, an audible smacking of its mouth sounding through the helmet. Gladion decided to try berries this time. He put the berry slices in a dish and then placed them on the floor. He backed away from the dish and waited.

He had to cut them into fine cubes so that null wouldn't have too difficult of a time trying to eat them. Null didn't seem to know what they were and looked at them skeptically. Gladion picked up a cube from the dish and ate it. Null looked at the bowl in fascination before sniffing it. He let out a delighted squawk before effortlessly sucking up the berries into his helmet. It was comical to watch as the things he sucked up made an audible *shwoop!* noise as they were sucked in. This time, Null was way more sloppy with them. The juices leaked out from the bottom of his mask and it got all over the floor, making Gladion cringe. He might be better off buying some kibble for him and leaving berry slices as a treat. Still, Null seemed to enjoy his meal. This was probably the first time it has had berries at all. Null finished up his food but he took a moment to lick out the inside of his mask, his mouth smacking together loudly and continuously. Gladion was glad that they had at least gotten feeding down.

It took a few days for Gladion to get close enough to Null to pet him. Null would not let Gladion come near him without cowering in the corner and Gladion didn't want to touch Null without consent. So he worked out a schedule of letting Type: Null out of his ball, feeding him, letting him explore the room while he would study the lab notes from the experimentation done to him. It was interesting, they used a combination of many different DNA from different pokemon and then used ditto DNA to have it fuse. It is mentioned that he is able to reproduce but a section after that had also been ripped out. Why was that? Certain sections of the lab had been ripped out but why? This was looking suspicious. Just what was going on with the whole experiment that so much had to have been removed? Gladion silently prayed that none of it was vital information. Suddenly, Gladion saw Null looking over his shoulder.

"Hey." He said to Null.

Null looked at him but didn't do much else. He had gotten more relaxed around the boy and slowly had gotten closer to the kid. Gladion hesitantly reached his hand up in front of Null's face. Null didn't move but instead stared as Gladion moved his hand forward and gently touched Null's mask. Gladion grew shaky with excitement and nerves as he slowly turned and ran his hand along Null's mask. Null grew tense as his other hand traveled to Null's neck. However, he didn't struggle, he wanted to see what exactly Gladion was doing. Null rested his head on Gladion's desk and waited. Gladion took this as permission and allowed his hands to travel through Null's neck fur. Type: Null had never been touched before by another human much less get pets. He didn't know how to feel about this contact. Gladion investigated the mask next to see if maybe there was a way to remove it but he couldn't find anything. Null closed his eyes and relaxed as Gladion ran his hands along Null's back to investigate the rest of him. His whole body was covered with black fur but his back legs had some big purple scales on them. His tail looked aquatic but felt rubbery to the touch, the membrane reminded Gladion like that of a Zubat wing. His front bug-like legs were especially interesting and Gladion took one in his hand to just see exactly how it worked. Null even flexed his claws a few times to show Gladion.

Null was used to having lab procedures done to him. He didn't mind Gladion touching him after getting used to it. It was not much different than the robot arms that would modify his body. He just figured all this was some kind of huge lab test. He hasn't made the connection yet that he is free and could probably run if he wanted to. He never even truly understood consent, he just thought he had to lie still for this. But when he didn't feel some kind of needle or something being done to him, he was confused. After scanning him, Gladion just started petting his neck. He lifted his head and looked at Gladion with a questioning look.

"What? Have you ever gotten pet before?" Gladion asked.

Pet? That was a new word to Null. Null could understand some words, having been commanded with speakers. Some of its days, he was forced to look at a screen while a video played and words were being taught to him. So Null had a decent understanding of human words but pet was certainly a new one. He simply just gave Gladion a confused look but allowed him to continue. Null could learn names in a flash as well as new words. But after about a few minutes of feeling hands gently run through his mane, he decided he really liked this new word he had just learned. So this is what 'pet' means? He liked it.

* * *

Gladion awoke to see Null outside of his pokeball... and staring right at his face. Gladion jolted awake and Null tilted his head at Gladion in question. What was this boy's problem? It's not like he was going to hurt him. After all, hurting humans meant that he'd get the prod again and he didn't want to get the prod again. Null went over to the door and scratched at it. Gladion looked at him in confusion. He already knew what the door was? What could Null be asking him? He's soiled the floor enough times to not want to be asking to go to the bathroom.

"What is it?" Gladion asked him.

Null didn't know either but he heard people outside the door. They even tested the lock and the sound stirred him awake. So he came out of his ball to investigate. The fact that his ball hadn't been sealed shut puzzled the synthetic pokemon but, he decided not to question this new giant procedure he was going through. It has been probably one of the most pleasant ones he has had done to him so he rather not do anything to end it. But, still, something about the voices outside made him uneasy. Is it another part of this giant experiment? But he decided to get Gladion's attention. He trusted Gladion enough to ask.

Gladion peeked out of the door to see some Team Skull grunts in the parking lot. Null looked at Gladion curiously, wondering why the boy had suddenly grown tense. It was similar to how he used to be when Lusamine was around. Wait, this action meant bad things, right? Bad things could mean that this experiment is going wrong or about to end. Null didn't want that, either. So he became more alert, a silent growl rumbling in his chest as he looked at the Grunts.

They were trying to rob the motel from what Gladion heard. Gladion decided to stop them but how? Could type: null defeat them? Not to mention an older, intimidating, man with white hair was with them. Gladion then looked at Type: Null. Did he know how to battle with people? Still, they had to have pokemon with them, right? Maybe Gladion could take them on. He put his hand on Null's side as he counted them. There were about six grunts not including the older man.

"Hey, Null, think you could battle them?" Gladion asked.

Null nodded, pushing his way out the door. Gladion was surprised and quickly grabbed Null's tail to stop him but it was too late: the grunts had spotted them. They did their weird hand gestures which, did not make them look intimidating in the slightest. In fact, Gladion wanted to laugh at them and would have if it wasn't for the fact that he's with Type: Null whom was a little too eager for Gladion's taste. Even still, these guys meant business even if they were a joke as far as pokemon trainers go.

Null, meanwhile, was rearing for action. He wanted to battle and stretch out his claws. It had been awhile since he had to battle. He was looking forward to another good fight and he scanned these trainers. He had it in his head that he would be battling them, not the pokemon they released but those became an added bonus to Null. When they released their pokemon, Null didn't bother listening to Gladion as he charged head first into battle. He made short work of a weak little zubat one of them had and it laid unconscious on the ground while the grunt fell to their knees.

"I lost!" He said, distraught.

"Don't just stand there, idiots! Get them!" the man shouted.

"Yes, boss!" They shouted, the rest of them releasing their pokemon.

Null was a force to be recon with! But, it was easy to see that these grunts did not train their pokemon very well and none of them were calm during battle. They just shouted random attacks and didn't even mention to dodge or anything. Null didn't even bother listening to Gladion. He knew how to battle at the labs, he's done it several times. He could tell that Gladion had no clue so there was no point in listening. All the pokemon at the labs were about as experienced as these ones he was currently facing. Gladion grew anxious and even more scared. Here he was, not even a trainer himself and then there's Null whom had way more of an idea as to what he was doing than Gladion ever did. What was he to do?! He wasn't strong enough to control Null and he didn't have the first idea as how he should handle this pokemon. He took down all the other pokemon easily but Null then turned on the grunts.

"Null! Stop!" Gladion shouted.

Null didn't listen. Why is he telling him to stop? They're bad guys after all, right? And they didn't have a prod! He could easily take them out. He charged at them, head first. Gladion jumped in front of Null.

"I SAID STOP!" Gladion shouted.

Null saw him but didn't have time to stop himself as his head connected with Gladion's stomach. An audible ripping sound was heard along with a sickening 'thud'. Null backed away from Gladion, shocked. What was he doing?! Why did he do that? These guys were their enemies, right? That meant destroying them. Gladion coughed up blood and Null suddenly grew anxious. Oh no! He had hurt him! He'll get the prod for sure now! Did that mean that this experiment was over now? Was he going to have to go back to the room?! He backed away from Gladion, terrified. The older man released his pokemon.

"Golisopod, use first impression. Make it a good one." The man said.

"Null! Dodge!" Gladion called.

But Null was too frozen with fear to even realize that he was about to get hit. The hit connected with Null square in the chest and he flipped backwards on the parking lot. He then realized that there was another pokemon he should be fighting but he felt terrified this time. This was an experiment, right?! Usually when the Aether humans get hurt, that means stop, right? So why is he still battling? And what was this huge room? Why are there so many lights above him but still dark? What is that giant glowing white ball in the high ceiling? The air is different, the ground is made of some kind of stone. The whole world around him just suddenly hit him at once. Sensory overload was an understatement.

"Null! Run!" Gladion shouted desperately.

Run? Why is he supposed to run? Where to?! This place was so huge! What was this place?! Null got up and backed up, looking around desperately, breathing heavily. All the rules were different and this place was different. What on earth was going on?! Is he dead? Was this a punishment for hurting the boy? That had to be it! Oh Arceus! He's really going to get it now! The older man then shouted another order to his pokemon.

"That thing is tough, I'll give it that. Use liquidation, Golisopod!" He called.

"Null! Snap out of it! Run!" Gladion shouted.

Null then felt the water slam against him hard. He fell over against the motel and laid on the floor, dazed. He wasn't fainted, he was just dazed. Horribly dazed. Gladion could see Null breathing heavily from where he was at. Gladion then looked at his stomach and saw blood. His gut felt like someone had ripped a hole in it. How deep did Type: Null hit him?

"Bring that thing over here, Golisopod." the man called.

Golisopod then walked over to Null, picked him up and then threw him over to them. Null landed right next to Gladion, his eyes opening to see Gladion's. He looked terrified and confused while Gladion looked terrified and regretful. He placed his hand on Null's mask.

"I'm so sorry, buddy." He said.

Sorry? What is he sorry for? Null screwed up, not Gladion, right? What was going on? What kind of experiment was this? Wait... was this even an experiment? This couldn't be. There hasn't been any needles, the Aether boy got hurt, and most of all, he hasn't gotten the prod once ever. Is this what the other pokemon meant when they would mention the real world? Or outside? Is this what they called outside? Gladion then raised up his pokeball as Null contemplated what was going on. He wouldn't even realize he was going in.

"Return..." He said weakly.

Null disappeared in a flash of red. The older man walked up to him and kicked Gladion over to face him. Gladion glared up at him defiantly while clutching Null's pokeball tightly. The man then squatted down next to him. The other grunts looked on, expecting their boss to show the boy the worst.

"Bring the beat down on him, boss!" One of them shouted.

"Yeah! Show em' what happens when you mess with team Skull!" Another one cheered.

"Fuck em' up, Guzma!" Another called.

"Shut up! I'm tryin' to talk!" He snarled at them.

The group then went silent. Guzma then turned back to the boy and sneered.

"So... what is a wimp like you doing with a pokemon like that?" He asked.

"That's none of your business." Gladion snarled.

"You're in no position to defy me, boy!" Guzma said, hitting his hurt stomach to make a point.

Gladion curled up in pain, tears brimming his eyes.

"Now tell me: where did you get this pokemon?!" Guzma growled.

Gladion shivered but didn't say anything. Guzma glared, and ripped the pokeball away from Gladion. Gladion snarled and bit Guzma's hand, clinging to the pokeball. Guzma kicked Gladion in the gut. Hard! Gladion yelped in pain before passing out from it. Guzma walked away, spinning the pokeball on one finger. He may not have come away with money but he did at least come away with a powerful pokemon.

* * *

 _Gladion felt nothing but cold steel on his back as he tried to break out of the restraints. He had cold metal restraints on his wrists, arms, neck, midsection, thighs, and ankles. He looked at his arm restraints to see that tubes with needles on them were poised to go in. He felt terrified and looked around desperately._

 _"Looks like he's coming out of it, president." Faba said._

 _"Hello, Gladion." Lusamine said, running her hands through his hair, a fond smile on her face._

 _"What's going on, mother?" Gladion asked._

 _"Oh just a little procedure. You're going to be president one day, after all. I have to make sure you're strong." She said._

 _"What does this have to do with anything?!" Gladion asked._

 _Then he saw a tentacled beast behind her. She smiled and held its tentacle._

 _"Oh how sweet of you to visit! Gladion, this is Nihilego! The truth is, if anything happens to me, Nihilego here will need a new host. But, you have to be a strong host and until it's your time, you will be one of the soldiers. But, it's too bad that it's too dangerous for you to consume her poison at the moment. So, until then, I have to improvise other ways of preparing you." Lusamine said with her wicked smile._

 _"What are you going to do to me?" Gladion asked, feeling terrified._

 _"Simple! I'm going to inject a weaker form of the poison within you so that when you can finally ingest it, you won't be able to disobey nor be without it for a long time. But, I fear that I have told you too much. You're not ready to know of the plan yet so it looks like I must wipe your memory of this moment." Lusamine said._

 _"Madam, everything is ready, it is time." Faba said._

 _"Good. Go ahead, Faba." Lusamine said._

 _A clicking noise was heard and with it, the needles stabbed into Gladion from the restraints. He cried out loudly, some of them going into the bone, others in major blood vessels and arteries. Lusamine gently swept her fingers through his bangs. Why did this feel so familiar to him?  
_

 _"Shhh... Hush. It will only hurt for a minute and then you'll pass out. You always do every time. Then you'll forget all about it." She said, in a gentle voice._

 _Dread filled Gladion as he saw a clear liquid with a very faint purple tint in it creep its way through the tubes the needles were connected to._

 _"If it is any consolation, your first pokemon is going to be Type: Null. I just know you and him will be a strong team." She said, proudly._

 _"This... this is insane!" Gladion said._

 _"Don't worry, dear! You'll be so strong when you come of age! You'll be my strongest warrior yet!" She said with a smile._

 _Lusamine almost looked like the same woman she was before that wormhole incident. The liquid then reached him and it burned! Gladion cried out as the burning sensation filled his whole body. Suddenly, memories of the previous times flooded his head. This didn't hurt nearly as bad as the first time but that didn't make it any better. Eventually, black clouded his vision and he passed out. Lusamine had been eerily loving all the while, still stroking his bangs like she always would..._

* * *

Gladion awoke coated in sweat as the memories came back all at once. She... she would do that to him every month. Ever since Nihilego had come. Nihilego... would visit but she could never stay in this world. She fed off of the people's life force whenever they ingested its poison. Luckily, mother still loved Lillie too much to subject her to all that torture. Through them, Nihilego would control them like a queen ant. Gladion... Gladion was being turned into a 'soldier'. If he had drank that poison, he wouldn't have been able to have any control over himself at all. He would have been mindless and have no ability to think for himself. His body... his body had been groomed to become Nihilego's. He remembered the pain and procedure but only remembered his father being mentioned.

However, Gladion snapped out of his daze and forced himself to focus on the problem at hand. He couldn't find Null's pokeball anywhere. The night before flashed through his mind and he grew angry as well as scared. Who do they think they are to take away Null like that?! They don't know what kind of pokemon he is! Not to mention that they could hurt him and Null could and probably would kill them. Gladion knew then and there that he had to go get Null back. So he quickly packed his bag but then noticed the dried blood on his sweatshirt. He completely forgot about the wound on his stomach despite how painful it really was. He cleaned himself up and then saw that he had a deep cut and a huge purple bruise had developed around it. He cleaned it as best he could but he knew that he was probably going to need stitches for it. You could see the muscle if it wasn't scabbed over. But, he had no time to visit a doctor.

Gladion then saw that the zubat from last night had been left behind. The grunt left the pokeball next to it and in black sharpy, it read 'weakling'. This angered Gladion and he picked the zubat up to take it to a nearby pokemon center. The nurse inside was distraught when she heard its story.

"That's awful! I can call up the Aether foundation right away! They'll take the poor thing in." She said.

"No!" Gladion said quickly.

"What? What do you mean?" She asked, confused.

"I mean, I want to take it." He said.

"You're willing to rehabilitate it?" She asked, surprised.

"Yeah, of course!" Gladion said.

He honestly just didn't want to come across the Aether foundation again. Well, it looked like he was now a pokemon trainer. The nurse healed the zubat and then noticed the cut on Gladion's stomach.

"You're hurt! Stay right there!" She said.

"I'm in a hurry." Gladion said.

"It doesn't matter! That cut is too deep for you to be walking around with it. Don't you even dare think about leaving or I will report you to the police and have you sent home." She said before going into the back of the pokemon center.

Gladion tapped his foot impatiently but knew better than to run. He did not want to look like a crook at the moment nor have the police after him. Then Nurse Joy came back out and led him to the back onto a medical bed.

"Lay back. This is a serious injury! Why didn't you get seen for it right away?!" She asked, shocked.

"They... Team Skull took a pokemon from me. I want to get it back." Gladion said as he laid back.

"Well then at least go in a decent condition! You should also train up that zubat. Don't just jump into battles with them unprepared! You'll just hurt you and your pokemon." Nurse Joy said, injecting his stomach with a numbing drug.

"...Yeah. You're right." He said.

Nurse joy cleaned and then stitched up the wound. It actually wasn't numbed properly but Gladion didn't even flinch. He felt desensitized to pain after that memory. Some of those times in the lab, he was kept awake and sometimes, he'd settle to this point where he would just be paralyzed with pain. It drove him insane some of those times, hence why they made him forget. But now, he had to focus on getting Null back. If he wanted to keep his sanity, he can't allow himself to think of any of that. So he planned out how he was going to get Type: Null back. First, he was going to look all over the islands. Then he was going to pin point the hide out. After that, he will get his pokemon stronger. Nurse Joy finished up and bandaged his wound after cleaning it a second time.

"Now go get your pokemon back but please be careful." She said.

"I will." He said, putting his sweatshirt back on.

"Go to the clothing shop nearby and get yourself a new shirt or something. At least get a shirt to go under that." She said.

So Gladion decided that he probably should. Besides, it would be embarrassing if he got a sunburn on his stomach in the shape of that rip. So he went to the store next door and got a simple red tank top that loosely fit him. It was cheap and comfortable. He had a look of determination on his face. He looked hardened now, gone were the days he was that pleasant happy boy with a doll face. He looked threatening now, the rip across his abdomen seemed to symbolize the tear within himself. He then continued out of that town and went to work finding team Skull.

* * *

Gladion had spent weeks looking for the Team Skull hide out. He had become a ruthless trainer, setting his pokemon after every Team Skull grunt he came to find. None of them would tell him where their hideout was, opting to run. And he didn't just have a zubat anymore. That zubat was tough! In the right hands, it proved agile and loyal. Gladion also rescued a riolu from Team Skull when he was investigating Poni island. The riolu followed him until Gladion agreed to let him join the team. The riolu proved to be one of his strongest pokemon on the team and he loved Gladion. All of his pokemon loved him, Gladion wasn't mistreating them but, they did have a hard time in battle. He pushed them hard. His final addition to the team before confronting Team Skull was a sneasel whom had a good balance of speed and strength. They loved him and they were loyal to him but they were also wary of him. Not many of them fully trusted him because of that look in his eyes. It was like he was so angry at the world. Soon, Gladion was ready to face Team Skull. It had been seven months since he had seen Type: Null.

He came to the entrance of Po Town. All he needed to do was ask the locals and everyone knew where Team Skull. Gladion felt foolish for going after the grunts. Team Skull wasn't discrete at all and it was stupidly easy to find them. However, news of his actions have been circulating. As he got close to the entrance, he heard the grunts talking about him.

"Yo! That kid, Gladion, has been causing trouble for everyone! I heard he even took my weak zubat and made it strong in just a week! What's up with that?!" One of them said.

"I dunno about that, yo! But, have you heard about that new pokemon the boss got a few months ago?! It won't listen to a thing anyone has to say! It nearly killed several people! They had to go to the hospital, yo! I heard one of them even had their guts popped out! That thing is dangerous, yo! I don't even know why the boss is keeping it!" The other grunt said.

Gladion approached and at first, they didn't figure out it was him. One of them greeted him.

"Hey, yo! Wanna join Team Skull?" He asked.

Gladion stood there, gaping at how stupid they were. They know his name but they don't recognize him?! What the hell is wrong with these people?! No wonder why the majority of these idiots failed their island challenges! Not a single one of them acted like they knew how to use their brain! Gladion face palmed but then decided that maybe he should act like he does want to join. It would make it easier after all and his pokemon won't be weak by the time they get to Guzma. He decided to quickly act before they misinterpret the face palm.

"Duh! Of course I want to join, yo." Gladion said.

"Woohoo! Another member! We'll show you around!" The other said.

Sure enough, not a single one of them recognized him. It was ridiculous! Seven months of fighting them and not one of them spoke up! If you're wondering how Gladion got so edgy, this was one of the reasons. Part of it was because he had completely given up on the human race at this point. Not a single one of these guys had any common sense at all! But, on the upside, at least they were fairly friendly but only because he was going to 'join them'. They almost seemed like a bunch of normal teenagers. But the moment Gladion got to Guzma's room, he released his riolu.

"I've been looking for you." Gladion snarled.

Guzma smirked while the others gaped at him. The two grunts behind him suddenly realized who he was.

"Oh my gosh! It's Gladion! Why'd you let him in, you idiot?!" One of the grunts yelled at the other angrily.

"Don't look at me! You didn't know it was him, either!" He yelled back angrily.

"Shut up! You're all idiots! I've faced at least half of you and none of you figured anything out! Arceus! It's no wonder why all of you failed your island challenge! You guys act like you don't know how to use your brains at all!" Gladion yelled both angrily and incredulously.

Guzma smirked at this sight.

"You have guts, kid. I'll give you that. Coming here all alone and then having the nerve to yell at them like that. I like you. So I'll make you a deal. Take out all of my grunts and I'll let you have your pokemon back." Guzma said.

"Deal." Gladion said, glaring at the other grunts.

"We got this, boss!" One of them said.

"You can count on us, yo!" Another said.

One by one, Gladion took out the other grunts and their pokemon. His riolu even evolved into a lucario and they beat the whole team slowly but surely. Luckily Gladion had a lot of revives and potions. But, he didn't have an infinite amount and he was running out. Finally, he was put up against Plumeria.

"Ya really shouldn't be picking on the other grunts! I'm the big sister of this team! I won't let you get away with hurting them!" She said, looking at Gladion with a cross look.

"Bring it on!" Gladion snarled.

Her salandit, grimer, zubat, and mareenie were tough but they were no match for his lucario. He beat her team in no time though with a little difficulty. Plumeria was admin for a reason. The rest of his team, however, were down and he didn't have time to heal them just yet. His lucario was just barely on his feet. Guzma looked at Gladion, impressed. He tossed the pokeball back to Gladion. Gladion was shocked. He'd just given him his pokemon back just like that?! Guzma looked at Gladion expectantly.

"Well go ahead. Show me just how this pokemon is yours. Bring em' out." Guzma said.

The rest of the grunts left the room while Plumeria looked at Guzma in shock.

"You can't be serious, yo! That thing nearly killed a lot of our team! There's no hope for it, boss! You should have just killed it!" Plumeria said.

"Relax. Golisopod can subdue it if there's any trouble. I just want to see if this boy can control it." Guzma said.

Gladion glared and then released Null. Null looked around, growling angrily he then saw Gladion and he froze. It's that Aether boy! Had he grown in the past seven months? His clothes look a little more snug on him. Null then growled. Where had he been?! Why did he let this man take him way?! Why?! Just why?! And... why did he not want to kill this boy?! Every other grunt, he would have had no qualms about killing but this boy... this boy. What is this feeling he had for this boy?! Null was frustrated and shook his head violently, roaring loudly. Gladion was fearful and Lucario stood in front of him protectively.

"Lucario, here." Gladion said, spraying him with a hyper potion.

Lucario perked up more, his pain melting away. He was still exhausted but at least he didn't hurt anymore. Lucario decided to talk to him.

 _"Don't do this, pal. He came all this way to get you. Please don't hurt him. Not all humans are bad."_ Lucario said to him.

Null glared at him. This was the first time a pokemon had directly spoke to him. Lucario continued.

 _"What kind of experiment has this whole thing been?! What is he hoping to get out of this?! I have never been more scared and angry in my life!"_ Null snarled.

 _"This ain't no experiment! You're not at the lab anymore! None of this has been any kind of experiment! This is the real world!"_ Lucario snarled.

 _"Then what is he doing here?! He was at the labs, too! I've seen him there! Every month, they brought him in and then they'd turn the glass into a wall! Then I'd hear screaming... very loud screaming. He might be dangerous!"_ Null said.

 _"How do you know that wasn't him screaming?! He was just as much of a prisoner as you were!"_ Lucario said.

 _"You don't know that! You weren't there."_ Null roared.

 _"If you didn't see anything, then neither do you!"_ Lucario argued back.

Null growled, readying himself to attack and Lucario had an aura sphere at the ready. But, Gladion put his hand on his shoulder.

"Lucario, stand down." Gladion said.

Lucario looked at him incredulously.

 _"He's going to try to kill you! Do you think I'll forgive myself if you get hurt?!"_ Lucario said.

Null didn't know what to believe. The guy behind him kept beating him every time he wouldn't listen but Null wasn't going to listen to a man like him anyway. It's just that memories of this boy back at the lab have been resurfacing every time he'd faint from getting defeated. Gladion walked forward. Lucario looked at him in alarm and tensed, readying himself in case Null did anything. But Gladion put his hand up to Lucario.

"Don't do anything, Lucario. No matter what." Gladion said.

 _"...Gladion... you better know what you're doing!"_ Lucario said nervously.

Gladion approached Null slowly.

"Hey, bud. Been awhile. You lost weight. Have they even been feeding you properly?" Gladion asked.

"Tch! Damn thing is hard to feed when it keeps trying to kill you!" Plumeria said.

Noticing that Plumeria was open and unprotected, Null charged at her and raised its claws to strike. Gladion moved in front of her, Null's claw catching his right arm just below the shoulder, tearing his sweatshirt. His other claw tore into his pants. Null pushed off and backed away from him and growled. Why is he protecting her?! She's an enemy! She should be destroyed! Is he an enemy, too?! Does he want to be destroyed as well?!

"Null, don't kill people! That's wrong!" Gladion said.

What?! But people have been hurting him all his life for as long as he could remember! If this boy was truly like him, then he'd be just as much out for blood as he was! He couldn't take it anymore! Null's vision went red and he tackled Gladion, pinning his left arm down and his claws digging into his other leg. Null's ball fell from Gladion's hand and rolled towards Guzma again. Guzma grabbed the ball and watched to see if Gladion will be Null's first kill. If so, the Guzma will be rid of Gladion but then also may just have to kill Null. Null squeezed Gladion's arm under his claws and his bones started to crack. Gladion grimaced in pain and realized a little too late that this probably wasn't a good idea. But, then as Null's grip on him tightened, the bones in his arm gave and broke, a sickening, audible, snap resounding through the room. Gladion screamed in pain. Suddenly, Null froze in fear and shock. That scream was the exact same haunting scream he had heard in the labs. His eyes went back to normal and he backed away from Gladion in shock. Gladion gripped his left arm in pain, it was bleeding from the scratches. Null had cracked his bones and damaged the tendons, forever crippling Gladion's left hand to the point that it will always hurt whenever he's stressed, hence why he develops a habit of clutching it. Lucario ran over to his side and looked at Gladion's arm and then he glared at Type: Null.

 _"You broke his arm! He came all this way, training us all for the past seven months just to save you and this is how you repay him?! You were going to kill him, you monster!"_ Lucario roared at him angrily before hitting Null with an aura sphere.

The aura sphere directly hit Null's head, knocking him out. Or so Guzma thought. He was really just in shock again. This boy... this boy really was just like him... that whole thing, this, what is the word for it? Bond? Yeah, bond. It was real, all of it. And he might have just angered the only person he had a connection with. Monster... that suited him well now, didn't it? It's all he truly was, wasn't it? Maybe he'll never be happy because he was only made to destroy. Maybe they should just destroy him. After all, he nearly did just kill Gladion despite everything they had been through. Tears fell from Null's eyes and they confused him. What is this liquid? What is this feeling he's feeling? He didn't know but he felt too... what is this feeling? It hurt even though he wasn't physically hurt. Guzma returned Null.

"Hah! You have guts, kid! I like that! You know what? You're in. Welcome to Team Skull." Guzma said.

"I... I don't want to join." Gladion said, sitting up weakly.

"Tough! You're part of the team cuz I said so! You can't beat me, kid! You know you can't! My golisopod can KO that thing no problem. Don't even think about runnin' or else I'll find you and drag you back here." Guzma said.

"But I'll get stronger." Gladion said.

"Good! So will I! Here, take back your monster. How about if you can beat my golisopod with it, I'll let you leave the team. Until then, you're not going anywhere. I'll make sure of it." Guzma sneered, tossing Type: Null's ball back to Gladion.

"But Guzma, everyone is here because they want to be here." Plumeria said.

"Plume, the kid is strong. He KO'd your team with mostly just one pokemon and he can control that beast more than I can. I ain't lettin him go." Guzma said.

Gladion glared at him.

"Besides, you want to stay away from the Aether Foundation, right? What better way to make them stay away than for them to know that their own boy has joined Team Skull? They won't touch you here... unless you want me to take you back personally? Your mommy must really miss you." Guzma sneered.

"I'm not going back! Never!" Gladion said in a mix of anger and fear.

"Then stay here. Work for me and get stronger here. You can kick around the other grunts as much as you want. With your strength, you're at the rank of an enforcer." Guzma sneered.

"But boss! Are you sure you wanna be giving him such a high rank right away?!" Plumeria asked, surprised.

"Pfft! He won't listen to me all the time. He'll at least have a little more freedom. All he's got to do is keep the others on their toes. He's still below you, Plume. Don't worry too much." Guzma said.

"He's not gonna steal pokemon at all! He'll probably ruin everyone's plans!" Plumeria said.

"Then they'll just have to be stronger than him now, won't they?" Guzma said.

"You're basically hirin' him to beat everyone up whenever he don't like them?!" Plumeria asked, incredulously.

"You got it." He said.

"You're askin' for trouble, G!" Plumeria said.

"Relax, it'll make the team get stronger and put more thought in their actions. After all, he got in here far easily than anyone should have. Having a little muscle around to keep them up to strength is needed. I'll keep him in line if he tries anything too out of line." Guzma said.

"I don't like this, G." Plumeria said.

"I'll do it..." Gladion said.

"What?!" Plumeria said, shocked.

"I will get stronger and when I'm done with you guys, I will bring down the Aether foundation myself." Gladion said, glaring at Guzma with a chilling glare.

Guzma smirked.

"Lookin' forward to it, kid. Now get outta my face before I make that arm of yours worse." Guzma said.

Gladion stood up but faltered. His lucario helped him stay balanced. Gladion, holding his broken arm, limped towards the door. The scratches in his legs also did some damage. He returned Lucario, silently thanking him for a good job. Plumeria walked over to Gladion and grabbed his arm. He looked at her in confusion.

"Just don't question it. Besides, the others might kick you down while you're like this." Plumeria said, walking him out the door.

The grunts parted as the pair walked out, muttering among themselves. Plumeria stood in the middle of them and cleared her throat.

"Alright! Listen up! This boy, Gladion, here is gonna be part of Team Skull, ya hear me?! He's an enforcer! So y'all better show some respect unless you wanna get whooped by him again!" Plumeria shouted.

The crowd was tense and everyone muttered their disagreements about this arrangement. Plumeria walked Gladion past them quietly, Gladion remained emotionless like when he was with his mother. Some of them spat at him and he glared at them coldly, some of them freezing when he did so. Though only ten, Gladion was terrifying when he got angry. He's also done enough to them to incite enough terror. Plumeria continued to walk him out of Po Town and over towards the closest town. She then let go of him.

"There's a pokemon center here. Get you and your team patched up. I suggest you train your pokemon every day. With you around, those grunts won't be weak for very long. I'll especially be trainin' ya hear me? So don't go messin' around or else they'll beat you down!" Plumeria said.

"Why are you helping me?" Gladion asked.

Plumeria looked away and let out a sigh.

"Everyone is part of Team Skull because they have a story. Many of them ain't with us to be cool or just because they failed the island challenge. They're with us because of something goin' wrong with them back home. That is why I care for all of them, ya know? They need someone. Then there's you. Listen, I disagree with Guzma keepin' you with us because you obviously don't wanna be here but what he says goes whether we like it or not. But, outta everyone I've seen come through, I don't think any of them have had it worse than you. Whatever you went through, it's turned you into a very hardened kid. Ten year olds ain't suppose to have the look in their eyes you do. You look like you just got back from a war zone. Whatever you went through, I bet it was a livin' hell. Here, this is my number. If there's any trouble, let me know. I look after everyone in the team, after all cuz I'm the big sister. Now go get yourself patched up. Your arm is obviously broken. Good luck, kid." Plumeria said before leaving him.

Gladion stared off after her. Why is she part of Team Skull? She had a good heart but why was she so caring towards them? And then being caring towards him after everything he did to her team? But she did just explain, didn't she? So she's with them because she feels obligated to in a way. Gladion limped back towards the pokemon center. It started to rain and he came through the doors soaked. Nurse Joy rushed to help him. He was taken to the back, his arm x-rayed, his bones set back in place and casted, his wounds cleaned and stitched. He left the pokemon center the moment his team had been healed and he pulled his hood up. He released his Type: Null outside his pokeball, rarely to ever go back in. Null looked at him in surprise. The pokemon grew nervous as Gladion stared at him, the look on his face was different. He looked like he had been through hell and back. Null couldn't help but blame himself for this. He walked forward and rested the forehead of his mask on Gladion's shoulder gently. Gladion was surprised.

 _"I'm so sorry... I didn't mean for this, Gladion... But I'm scared. I don't know anything about this world. I'm afraid of this world... more so than I'm afraid of the lab."_ He said, Gladion only able to hear a whine.

Gladion placed his hand on the side of Null's helmet. He was relieved that Null wasn't trying to kill him anymore.

"It's okay, boy. It's been rough for both of us. But... we need to get stronger. We need to get stronger so we can stop mother from what she has been doing." Gladion said to him.

Nulled stepped back and looked him in the eye. Gladion patted the side of his helmet.

"But first we got to get this thing off. We'll show them your true power, Null. I know we will." Gladion said, running his hand over Null's masked.

 _"Yeah... let's do this."_ Null said.

* * *

 **And that is how Gladion and Type: Null became partners. (In my version anyway. The anime or manga might go more in depth...) this has to be the hardest I've ever worked on a single chapter in a story.**


	2. Anxious

**Well... Chapter 2 is talking about mostly Gladion. I had to edit this chapter quite a bit. I realized it was a little too random. That and I have the part where Moon comes in outlined because she is a key character and I'm super excited for her to come in but I have to remind myself that I better make the process getting to her part worthwhile, too! I do apologize if I rush or blurb out a chapter! Lemme know and I'll correct it! But I'll work harder on my end, too!  
**

* * *

 _Three months after Gladion joined Team Skull_

Lusamine greeted Guzma with a hug. It was platonic or at least to Guzma but to her, it was nothing more than a necessary task, no emotional value in it at all. Lusamine was far too old for him to think of her as anything other than a mother figure. She smelled of white musk and her small dainty frame felt like he could easily crush it. But, she had an authority about her that commanded everyone's respect. Still, though, after three months of visiting her, Guzma had fallen for her charade of affection and respect like a moth to flame. He was blind to her true intent and maybe, deep down, he knew she wasn't right in the head. But, he didn't have a much better state of mind so he wasn't one to judge. He fell for her false affection and admiration so easily. It was easy for her to have him wrapped around her finger. Just show a little bit of motherly affection with a dose of admiration and he was putty in her hands.

"Good to see you again, Guzma. How have things been?" She asked sounding genuinely interested.

"Things have been great, Prez." He said, hugging her back.

He followed her to the labs and they stepped into the old lab that Gladion used to go into every month. Guzma and Lusamine hung out here. The older boy never got the same treatment Gladion did mostly because it was unnecessary and anyway, she did not want Guzma to potentially run away. They kept their talks to the labs because, if any visitors found the boss of Team Skull there, people would get suspicious. Guzma was given his monthly cup of poison here. Lusamine, however, wanted to ask about her son. She had been stringing him along this whole time just to ask about him. Truth be told, the moment he left, she didn't want him back ever. She just wanted to know if he was going to be making any moves to expose her actions. Guzma, however, perceived her questions about the kid as wanting him back.

"So how has my son been? Behaving himself?" She asked.

"Oh he's been a big help! He's probably the strongest in the whole team except for me. My golisopod makes short work of him every time. He has no choice but to obey me." Guzma said proudly.

Lusamine frowned, showing as much of a realistic reaction as she could get by with... all only for show, of course. Nihilego's influence wiped out the majority of Lusamine's emotional attachments. It keeps her focused on Nihilego, not leaving any room in her heart for anything else that could interfere. Guzma falls for her charades every time.

"Oh don't worry, he's safe under my command. No one is allowed to touch him. I only bring the beat down on him if he tries anything funny. I haven't had to yet." Guzma promised.

"Good. I'd hate to see him get hurt out there." Lusamine said.

"Although, I gotta admit, that kid gets real upset whenever the Aether Foundation comes into the conversation. So, did you guys do something to him?" Guzma asked.

"Before I met you, Gladion was going to be my soldier instead of you. My own personal knight. But, just consuming the poison would have killed him before he turned ten. So the poison was injected into his body in a diluted form to strengthen him. As you could imagine, it hurt him badly every time. So we made sure he'd forget but after tracking his activity, my sources found that he actually does remember. Despite being able to find that out, no one can figure out how or why he had escaped. I always wondered if the amnesia drug was too diluted to use on him. He probably ran because he finally remembered. Oh well, what can you do?" She said.

Guzma was curious about the procedures done to Gladion. He's heard rumors of Gladion being found having an anxiety attack although he always ends up lashing out at the grunts if they do anything. His Type: Null also got aggressive whenever he got like that. Many grunts are terrified of him whenever he ever got like that. The more anxious Gladion is, the angrier he looks and acts. But, so far, he's never had to take anything or get help for it. All he needs to do is battle someone or keep busy and he'd be fin.

"What did it feel like? The injections I mean?" Guzma asked.

"I could show you." Lusamine said with a wicked grin.

Guzma grew nervous and scooted back a little. Lusamine then realized her break in her charade but quickly recovered. She reached over and grabbed his arm gently.

"Of course, you don't have to. It is very painful after all. I wouldn't want to see you hurt. Besides, your body can handle just consuming it. I understand if you're afraid." She said with a gentle smile.

She knew that the moment she accused him of being afraid, he'd fall for it. He glared defiantly.

"I'm not afraid! I'm big bad Guzma! I ain't afraid of anything! I'll take a shot in the arm to prove it!" Guzma said.

Lusamine smirked. She had no real purpose with injecting him with it, she just wanted to see how he'd be able to take it. She wanted to see if he was truly as tough as he said he was.

"Faba! If you would, please." Lusamine said.

"Right away, ma'am." He said.

Faba later walked up to her with a tray. On the tray was an enclosed bottle of a diluted form of the poison with a syringe. Lusamine took them in her hands.

"Now this is the exact formula that was put inside of him. You could probably take it in its raw form but I want to show you just how the diluted form feels like. The needles went into various parts of his body, about twenty five to fifty needles going down into his bones, one hundred or so in major arteries and blood vessels. The locations weren't always set but it all would move throughout his body eventually. He used to be a little chubby thing when he was five but the poison altered his metabolism. He'll probably always be thin as a rail even when he's off of the poison. I remember he also had very good muscle tone. His physical strength was even stronger than average. He was my strong little soldier after all." She said as she filled up the syringe.

"So, injecting that into me could do the same thing?" Guzma asked.

"Trust me, dearie, you're better off ingesting it. This is going to hurt a lot." She said, sticking it into his arm.

"I'm not afraid of anything. I bet I could take ten of these." He said.

"We'll see about that." She said, pushing the plunger on the syringe.

Guzma's smirk went away the moment the poison hit his veins. He swore he saw his blood vessels turn dark when it went in as if they got charred or they had just gotten ink injected into them. She wasn't kidding! It felt like someone had lit his whole arm on fire. He collapsed onto the floor screaming in pain.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! This hurts!" He howled.

"Now imagine having that course through all over your body for twelve hours. This is what Gladion had to live with on a monthly basis. It truly was a beautiful sight watching Nihilego's poison run through his veins. I was proud to see him power through the procedure. Seeing him have such resilience was truly beautiful. But, he's not as strong as I had hoped. In the end, he ran away like a coward and a thief. I did nothing but love him and he betrayed me. In the end, he just became downright ugly." Lusamine said.

Guzma got up but he was still in obvious pain. He clutched his arm and looked at it, swearing that it felt warmer than normal and it throbbed painfully. His whole body also started to ache dully as the poison reached the rest of him.

"That... that kid had to live through this every month?! I can barely stand it now!" Guzma said, shocked.

"Yeah but we made sure he forgot. It's unfortunate that he seems to remember according to my sources. He'll probably never be sane again." Lusamine said.

"Yeah, no shit! I'm barely sane after this!" Guzma said, still clutching his arm.

"Oh don't worry, dearie. It'll go away soon." She said, running her hands through his hair affectionately.

Guzma calmed down and focused on her hands. He had thought of Lusamine like a mother figure. Any normal person would have been afraid but Guzma would stubbornly look at her like 'I ain't afraid of anything this woman does!' and then he'd tell himself 'she treats me like the real deal!' He soon stood up straight, the ache fading away.

"See? It's getting better now. You're so brave! Still able to stand up not five minutes after having that injected into you! I shouldn't expect anything less from my fearless knight, should I? " She praised.

"Nah. I'm cool." He said smiling at her.

"Now, I have business to attend. Until next time. Make sure Gladion stays out of trouble." She said sweetly before leaving the lab.

From that day forward, Guzma favored Gladion more. If any Grunt had been found physically harming Gladion, there would be hell to pay. Guzma had done this for a mix of reasons, one of them was that he figured it would please Lusamine to know that her son was being treated well, another was that Guzma sympathized with him a little after taking that shot. He would never admit that reason, of course! Big bad Guzma feels sorry for no one! Or as he would say anyway. Though a key part of this story, this isn't about him.

* * *

Gladion had good days and bad days. He'd get anxious easily and often, this lead to him getting angry or violent. It was never a good idea for the grunts to approach him whenever he got like that. Sometimes, Gladion would have to sit down or something to try and work through an anxiety attack. Type: Null would break out of his pokeball and stand next to Gladion, the nose of his helmet against his shoulder or back. If anyone got too close to Gladion while he was like this, Null would chase them off. But, things were getting more and more difficult for the boy.

Sometimes, he would have trouble keeping it out of his mind... the burn, the needles, the cold metal against his back and holding his body down, Lusamines slender fingers brushing through his bangs, her eyes and that wicked smirk on her face. All of it would appear if he were to close his eyes sometimes. It was inescapable for him and it didn't take long for it to damage him. Today, he wasn't even doing much. He just ran into four grunts and they noticed him. Of course, they had to make some jabs at him. Sadly, these grunts didn't know that if you piss off Gladion on one of his bad days, he'll get dangerous.

 _Cooled metal around his neck, borderline choking him, bright lights overhead._

"Aaaww! Look! It's little Gladion pretending he's part of the team! Hah! What a joke!" One of them sneered.

Gladion glared at them coldly and they laughed.

 _Click! The needles stab into his body. His body jolts from both being startled and the pain._

"D'aaww! Are you angwy, wittle Gladion? Are you gonna cry?" another teased.

"Go away." He growled.

 _Slowly, the fluid travels toward his body. He watches helplessly, knowing that soon it will burn._

"Did someone forget to give you milk n' cookies today?" Another one jeered.

He took out one of his pokeballs, a crazed look on his face.

 _Her face over his head, smiling wickedly as her fingers run through his bangs. He could feel nothing but betrayal. Why is she doing this to him? Didn't she remember who he was? Is that really his mother?_

"If you know what's good for you, leave!" He snarled.

"You wanna fight, yo?! Come on, guys! Let's all take him down and show him his place!" One of them said.

 _The liquid enters the tubes, Lusamine was over his head, cooing as if this was all a good thing as his whole body started to burn... Mother... why...?_

They lined up to battle him like school kids at a water fountain. Only for them to be taken down by Null. Null already picked up that Gladion was anxious.

'He's doing it again. He's scared again. I need to end these battles quickly before he gets worse.' Null thought as he fought a zubat.

Null couldn't allow himself to lose whenever Gladion got like this. He knew that it was best to end the battles as quickly as possible before he gets worse. But, the battles were taking longer than anticipated and Null could hear Gladion faltering. He was getting worse and worse faster than Null had seen him get. It was distracting but as Null got to the last grunt to battle, no one realized that Gladion had stopped giving commands except for Null himself. Gladion was just staring at his left hand as he clutched it, his breathing heavy and fast. Null ended the last battle but then rushed back to Gladion's side. The grunts suddenly noticed that their enforcer wasn't doing so well.

"Yo, what's wrong?" One of them asked.

Gladion fell to his knees, Null caught his front with his helmet. The grunts and Null stared on in shock. Null eased him down onto the ground only for the boy to curl up in the fetal position, breathing heavily. The grunts approached but Null stepped over Gladion protectively, growling at the grunts threateningly. They all put their hands up as if at gunpoint. They backed up and then huddled together.

"Yo, we can't just leave him there. That ain't right, yo!" One of them said.

"Guzma will have our heads if he finds out, yo! What do we do?!" Another asked.

"But we didn't do anything, yo! He's having some kind of panic attack! He need's help, yo!" Another added.

"Yo! I know! Let's call Plumeria! She'll help out!" Another said.

"Good idea, yo! Let's get Plumeria!" the others agreed.

One of them called her phone.

"Yo, sis! Gladion is acting all weird! He's collapsed on the ground and breathing hard. I think he's hyperventilating! His pokemon won't let us get anywhere near him, yo! We need help!" He said.

"Alright, I'll come check things out." She said on the other end.

"We'll see if we can get him to his motel in the meantime if his pokemon will let us anyway. It seems more angry than usual, yo!" the grunt said.

"Don't try anything. I'll take care of it. I'll be there soon." Plumeria said before hanging up.

The grunts waited while Null stood over Gladion protectively. Sure enough, Plumeria arrived on the back of charizard. She walked over to the grunts.

"How long has he been like this?" She asked.

"For about half an hour, yo!" A grunt said.

Plumeria reached into her bag and pulled out a small folded paper. She unfolded it, revealing a small pile of green powder.

"Hmm... this is the last of my sleep powder but it's enough to get that thing outta the way." Plumeria said.

"How are you gonna do that, yo?" one of the grunts asked.

"Easy." She said before running towards Type: Null.

"SIS!" All four grunts shouted, alarmed.

Null was poised for an attack and launched himself towards her. She blew the sleep powder into Null's face swiftly before diving under him to dodge him. Null collapsed on the ground, inhaling its lungs full of the sleep spore. A small portion got into Plumeria's lungs but she quickly ate a chesto berry before it could fully effect her. She grabbed Null's pokeball off of Gladion and returned the passed out Type: Null. All grunts gushed at how awesome Plumeria was.

"SO COOL!" They all said, their eyes gleaming with admiration.

"Alright, cut it out, guys. Let's get Gladion back to his motel room." She said.

"Right! Grab him, yo!" One of the grunt said.

All four of them picked up Gladion, whom was too out of it to even care that he was being awkwardly carried down route 8. They rushed him back to his motel room, Plumeria fished the key to his room out of his pocket before getting him inside. The grunts plopped him on the bed and Plumeria dismissed them. They walked out of the room. Plumeria then turned to Gladion and saw that he was still conscious.

"You okay, kid?" She asked.

She didn't get a response, he was just a heap on the bed. He was clutching his bad arm as pain shot through it, the scars still pink on his wrist having just healed recently. He was coated in sweat, his eyes wide, his chest heaved as he gasped for air like a magikarp on land. He looked like he was in sheer terror. Plumeria sat on the bed next to him and pulled his head onto her lap. She didn't dare touch his bangs, which had grown over his eyes at this point. Last time she had jokingly swept them out of his face (because he never could seem to get them out of his face), he backed away from her rather quickly and turned pale. She instead ran her hand along his back, hoping somehow he'll calm down.

"Come on, kid, you can't do this to yourself. I'll have to take you to a hospital at this rate and you know how much trouble that'll be for both of us. Focus on your breathing, can you do that?" She asked him.

Gladion didn't seem to hear her. It was like he was off in another world. Plumeria has had a few grunts with anxiety problems and some of them she had to use sleep powder on before but she didn't have any more, having used it on Type: Null. She's witnessed pretty bad anxiety attacks but none quite like this. Usually, at this point, most of the grunts with anxiety would have passed out or she would have gotten their attention to help them work through it. But this was something she hadn't seen in a long time. Plumeria picked the boy up and held him against her chest, ignoring the fact that his head was pretty much nestled in her boobs. Seeing him like this scared her. It was as if he had... this kid was exactly how her dad used to be before he died. He had PTSD and eventually killed himself. This whole thing was bringing back unpleasant memories for the admin. She knew she had to help, fearing the worst if she didn't do anything.

"Kid, focus on my breathing instead if you can't control your own." She said firmly.

Gladion seemed to gain some composer, giving only a slight nod. Plumeria was relieved that she had gotten some kind of response from him. It was a start.

"Can you hear my heartbeat?" She asked.

He nodded, still gasping hard. Plumeria had to focus to keep her own breathing steady. Gladion's condition scared her a lot.

"Okay, what about the wild pokemon outside? The birds and bug types, can you hear them?" She asked.

He nodded again, the gasping slowing down to just heavy breathing. She was trying to get his mind on other things to keep him grounded, bring him back to reality.

"Okay, what color are the curtains on the windows by the door?" She asked.

"Light blue." he breathed.

"Okay, what color is the chair?" She asked.

"Red." He answered.

"What about the comforter?" She asked.

"Green..." He said.

His breathing had slowed but he was shaking like a leaf.

"Now keep your breathing steady, can you do that? Focus on nothing else but how you're breathing. Deep breaths in and deep breaths out. Do it with me." She said.

He joined her and for a second, she thought he was okay as he breathed with her. Suddenly his body jerked against her and then a sob suddenly ripped through his chest, taking Plumeria by surprised. She looked down to see tears falling from his eyes, his eyes squeezed tightly shut as he kept his his bad hand clutched against himself. He was crying and this was not something Plumeria was used to. She usually saw an angry or annoyed glare on his face or at least an emotionless look on his face. But then, she had to remind herself that he was still only eleven which is young even in the team's standards. He acted so tough and grown up that it was easy to forget that he was still just a child but, in that moment, Plumeria was painfully aware of it. He's only eleven and he's showing symptoms of PTSD. Plumeria put her arms around him and held him.

"It's okay, kid. Nothing's gonna get you here. It's in the past." She soothed.

Gladion just cried against her for what seemed like an eternity while she did her best to comfort him. His sobs eventually died down and Plumeria waited for him to maybe pull away or something. But, instead, he passed out against her, exhausted. She gently laid him down on the bed and sat on the red chair nearby. She stayed with him, sitting on the chair and keeping a close eye on him. She was still shook up over this whole thing. Seeing a child go through that had seemed so surreal that it all almost felt like some kind of nightmare. Gladion awoke two hours later and he saw Plumeria but he didn't give any reaction. He was too physically and mentally exhausted to care about anything. He did not really have anything to say, he could only stare off.

"Kid, whatever is bothering you, don't think about it too much. Especially after all that." Plumeria said.

"... That... that's the whole reason why I need to take down the Aether foundation. They need to be stopped." He said.

"Kid, just focus on getting stronger and then focus on the Aether foundation. Whatever happened to you there, if ya keep thinkin' about it, it could put you back where you were when I got to ya. You need help, kid. I ain't always gonna be here to bring you outta it." She said.

"I can't get help for this. Not yet." Gladion said.

"Then do what you can to manage it yourself. I can teach you a few breathing exercises. My daddy had PTSD, too." Plumeria said.

"What makes you think I have that?" Gladion asked defensively.

"Anxiety attacks is one obvious symptom. Do you have recurring nightmares?" She asked.

Gladion remained silent and glared off.

"Gladion, answer me." Plumeria said sternly.

"Yeah..." Gladion said.

"Constantly reliving the event if triggered?" She asked.

"Triggered? I don't get trig-" He began.

"I don't mean someone having a meltdown in the comment section on facebook or tumblr or getting offended easily. I'm talking about something happening and then it takes you back to the moment of trauma to relive it. Does that happen to you? Be honest, kid." Plumeria said.

"...Yeah." He said quietly.

"Okay, it's fine. I'm not judging you." She assured him.

He nodded.

"Anyway, if how you act is any indication, you obviously already have negative changes in beliefs and all that. Unless you were always like this but something tells me you weren't." She said.

"No... No I wasn't." he said.

"What about constantly feeling jittery? Or hyper alertness?" She asked.

Gladion nodded. Plumeria hesitated with the last question even though his answer could and would scare her. Of course, it didn't have to be a symptom of PTSD but it often came with the territory.

"Okay, this one is a bit more personal but I need to know... do you have suicidal thoughts...?" She asked.

No response but he didn't need to say anything. His silence, sad face, and rigid posture told her that yeah, he's thought about it. Plumeria felt her own heart break for him.

"Aw kid... You're too young for this. A kid your age is supposed to be off doin' there own thing, hanging with friends, attempting the island challenge, having fun, and stuff like that. Not stressing over some kind of torment or trauma they went through." Plumeria said sympathetically.

"Hmph! You don't think I know that? It's just... I hate this. Sometimes, when I close my eyes, I'm back there again, Plume. I'm back in those labs, strapped down to a metal table, watching as the fluid enters those tubes. It wasn't just one simple IV either! They went deep! Some of them went into my bones or organs! And every time, it would burn like I'm being burnt alive. My only solace would be if I passed out from the pain but sometimes I'd always be awake. It only took an hour or two but it felt like an eternity each time! And then it would burn for the rest of the day! She would be over my head the whole time, running her hands through my bangs as if it would somehow distract me. Do you want to know the worst part?! Those would be the only times she would seem to act like a mother! Like she was calmly cheering me on or comforting me like I was just getting a little flu shot that I'd be too scared to get on my own! My own damn mother did this to me! I can't even be touched by anyone without thinking about those moments in the lab! How she only acted like she loved me when I was going through all that!" He said, tears still falling from his face.

Plumeria gaped at him in shock.

"Kid... I had no idea it was that bad. Why would she do that?" She asked.

"To turn me into some kind of super soldier to work for the Aether Foundation. It already did in a way. It changed me physically. I used to be slightly overweight when I was five. Ever since she started putting that stuff inside of me, it melted any fat I had and I physically got stronger. I know it's still inside of me. I can feel it. I don't know if it will entirely leave my body ever. But these memories... this anxiety, all that, it's tiring. It's exhausting. Some days, I just really wish it would end." Gladion said

He stared out the window as an afternoon rain started falling outside. Plumeria walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder. He looked at her hand, some part of him wishing he could rely on her more and maybe keep her as a close friend. But, he just couldn't. She was part of Team Skull. He didn't belong with these guys. He was scared of any personal relationships for that matter. He didn't want to burden anyone by depending on them, especially since most of the team already depends on her. He shrugged her hand off. He was on his own, no one else could be there for him.

"You can go now. I just... I guess I needed to vent is all. I'll be fine. Just because I sometimes wish it would end doesn't mean I will actually end it." Gladion said.

"You sure?" She asked.

Gladion nodded. She walked towards the door but she just couldn't leave him without saying something.

"Listen, yo, you ever think about offin' yourself or you get scared like that again, call me up and I'll talk you outta it. After all, I'm the big sister of the team. I take care of everyone. And don't worry, I won't tell Guzma or anyone else about this either." She said.

"...Thanks, Plume." He said.

"You're welcome, kid. Now get some rest and then kick some butt. I'm countin' on you to keep everyone in shape." Plumeria said before leaving the motel.

Every now and then, she'd call him to check on him. Even if the exchanges would be short, she was just relieved he was alive. She didn't want to see him dead. Not while under her command even if he wasn't truly part of the team. Seeing him break down like that was forever burned in her mind. You never would have known it but she did try to look out for Gladion as best she could after that even though he'd never accept her as a friend. All she could do was watch him from a distance and pray that somehow, things will change for the better for him.

* * *

 **That's it for now! I decided to shorten the chapters a bit because I found that what I was about to mash in with this wasn't going to make much sense.**


	3. Envy

**Onto chapter 3! Sun makes an appearance and our heroine makes a small appearance. I had to edit something though. I forgot that Gladion didn't know Lillie took cosmog. Silly me! Past chapters have also been edited.  
**

* * *

Sun looked ordinary to Gladion. Just another ordinary dimwit of a trial goer, right? After all, his friend, Hau, was an easy win for the young edgelord. Meanwhile, Sun thought Gladion was a bit rude and a little dramatic. This guy just berated him for simply confirming that his name was indeed Sun. But, despite being treated rudely by him, upon looking at Gladion, Sun couldn't help but be curious about him as a person. Sun, despite being a new trainer, managed to beat Gladion much to the boy's horror. Gladion was shocked that a fairly new trainer had beaten him so easily. But then, maybe he shouldn't have left his other pokemon at the Motel. Still, a friggin' rowlet took out his Type: Null! This upset Gladion greatly. He's been spending the past two years trying to get stronger and this kid from another region made short work of him and Type: Null. He had to step up his game! The grunts must have been so damn weak this whole time! He didn't like this! So he decided to go battle it out at the battle royals.

To Gladion's surprise and delight, Sun and Hau were there. Maybe now, he and Null could get redemption for that battle! So Gladion had Null try and take out Sun's pokemon, which had evolved into a dartrix. But, Null nearly got taken out by the other two pokemon. Luckily, a crush claw to Hau's Torracat ended the match. But, Gladion didn't come out with the most points like he had hoped. No, Sun came out on top again. Despite being the one who lost, Hau still left the ring with a big smile. How (no pun intended) did he manage to leave the ring with a smile after losing so badly?! Gladion just didn't get how anyone could still remain so optimistic after losing twice now! He left the battle royal dome feeling annoyed. He went off and trained more of his pokemon. He was not going to allow himself to lose so badly again! He had a responsibility to bring down the Aether Foundation! He can't have this!

Meanwhile, Sun had fun on his island challenge and trained his pokemon. He and his team had a great time together, sleeping under the stars and training and battling under the sun. He was living the life that any young trainer should be living. However, Gladion remained in the back of his mind. What is it with the older boy? Sun felt like he was missing something about this boy. He pondered it while sitting on top of a log when he looked at his holo caster to see that his twin sister, Moon, was calling. Sun smiled warmly before answering the holo caster. His sister's face and the rest of her appeared in view. She always called him every night before his bed time.

"Hey, Sun!" She greeted enthusiastically.

"Hey, Moon. How's the ranger life treating you?" Sun asked.

"It's been great! Next month will mark a year since I've started being a ranger! There's going to be a huge party. As long as no disasters happen anyway. My job takes priority after all." She said with a smile.

"I don't expect any less from you." Sun said.

"So how's your island challenge going? You're usually tired at this time. Either you've become a noctowl like me or something is on your mind. So what's up?" Moon asked.

"I ran into a weird guy." Sun said.

"Really?! Do you like him?" Moon teased.

"Moon, seriously? Why do you always assume that I like everyone I'm about to talk about?" Sun asked.

"I'm joking. So what about him?" Moon asked.

"He's so... edgy." Sun said.

"Like really edgy?!" Moon asked.

"Yeah! He has the punk clothes and everything! Except his hair is so blonde! And he does this weird pose with his arms, like this." Sun said, mimicking the pose.

"Eeek! I wanna meet him! He sounds cute!" Moon squealed.

"You're hopeless. I knew you'd be a sucker for him just by his description alone." Sun chuckled.

"Oh you know I love the edgy punks! They're my type!" She giggled.

"Anyway, there's also something else about him. He's rude but... I dunno, it's like there's something else going on with him. It's like he's always worried about something." Sun said.

"He's emo?!" Moon asked, internally fangirling.

"Probably but anyway, I think there's something personal going on with him. It's like he never lets loose or anything. I've yet to see him smile." Sun said.

"D'aaaww! He needs some love!" Moon said.

Sun face palmed but couldn't hide a smile. Moon was hopeless when it came to punks, edgelords, and emo guys.

"Sis, be serious. Please. I'm not trying to set you up. I think he went through some kind of mental trauma." Sun said.

"Oh? What makes you think that?" Moon asked.

"It's just a hunch." Sun said.

"Well, your hunches about people are hardly ever wrong. I could test out my gift... if it is anyway." Moon said.

"Moon, it is a gift. You never truly notice it because you know who they are when they meet you. You know what grandma says about it." Sun said.

"Yeah yeah, healing aura and all that stuff. I still don't get it. It's not like I can control it." Moon said.

"Actually, I don't think it's a power, I just think it's the kind of person you are. You have a way with both people and pokemon that no one else has. It's like you can always reach them, even if it's a cloyster with its shell tightly closed." Sun said.

"Don't flatter me too much, bro." Moon giggled.

"So how's grandma been?" Sun asked.

"She's been great. Still teaching me old Alola ways and stuff. But, I love it. How's the Alola region?! Grandma teaches me so much about her native culture but you're lucky enough to actually experience it! I'm so jealous!" Moon said.

"You're the one who is learning about all of it and stuff. Personally, I'm jealous of you. Have you gotten your tattoo yet?" Sun asked.

"Oh you know grandma won't let me get it yet. I'm still only ten. I have to be in my teens at least when I finally get it. And anyway, can't you learn the old traditions there? Grandma's old friend, Hala, could teach you." Moon said.

"True, true. I'll think about asking him. Then I'll also earn a tattoo." He said with a smile.

"So is it true that the night sky there is breath taking?!" She asked.

"Oh my Arceus! Words don't do the night sky here any justice! You need to see it for yourself, Moon! It's absolutely beautiful!" Sun said.

"Ooooh! Stop teasing me! You know grandma and I won't be able to come for a few years!" Moon whined.

"Speaking of the night sky, I'm getting tired. So I'll have to let you go." Sun said.

"Darn! You're not going to tell me more about your new edgelord friend? What's his name?" She asked.

"His name is Gladion. I have a feeling I'll see him again so I'll send you a picture if it'll make you happy." Sun said.

"Yay! You're the best, Sunny!" Moon said.

"Alright, good night, Moon moon!" Sun chuckled.

"G'night! Love you, bro!" Moon said with a cheerful smile.

"Love you, too. Bye!" He said before hanging up.

Sun went to sleep, happy to have heard from his twin.

Moon lived with their maternal grandparents much like Hau lived with his paternal grandparents. It's an old tradition and their families were a bit old school. The first born son would be offered to live with the paternal grandparents (like with Hau's case) and the first born daughter is offered to be raised by the maternal grandparents (as is the case with Moon). Although Kalani, Sun and Moon's mother, did not have to do it, she still offered to let her mother raise Moon. Besides, at the time, they lived in the same house. It wasn't until Moon had become a ranger that the siblings lived apart. Kalani wanted to live in the Alola region and so did the whole family but it would have costed too much if they all went at once and anyway, Moon had just become a ranger when the decision was being made. So it was decided that Kalani and Sun would be the first to move over there and then the rest of the family will come when it could be afforded.

Sun wanted to become a trainer and he could have started sooner in the Kanto region but, he decided to wait until he moved to the Alola region. He wanted to own pokemon and see the world. Moon, meanwhile, was passionate about rescuing and helping people and pokemon. She used to rescue abandon or stray pokemon off the streets and rehome them or release them back out into the wild. She was passionate about helping pokemon. Sun wondered if she would have join the Aether Foundation if she had come here with him. After all, they rescue pokemon, too.

* * *

Gladion stepped up his training by a lot. His zubat evolved into a golbat to his delight. All he could think about was getting stronger. He never thought that he would be taking down the Aether Foundation anytime soon. He tried not to think about it too much. Whenever his anxiety got bad, he'd just force himself to think about getting stronger. Null also helped him a lot and kept him grounded. Sometimes, Null would have to ram Gladion in the gut or the back to snap him out of an episode and it typically worked as long as he didn't cut open his trainer's stomach again. Gladion would realize that Null is there and he'd apologize to him, patting the side of his helmet. Plumeria got her hands on a drug for the kid but he rarely took it. All it did was make him unable to feel anxious so his mind could still be thinking about things but all he'd feel is depressed and empty. Either way, he'd be in a living hell. At least when he got anxious, he had to force himself to think or focus on something else. The drug is only used for emergencies.

He had recently heard that Lillie had escaped. Gladion was relieved and he quietly wondered if she had been through any trauma like he did. He silently hoped not. If Lusamine did anything to Lillie while he was gone, he would never forgive her. Lusamine not hurting Lillie was the only real proof to Gladion that maybe the old woman he used to know is still in there somewhere. He wanted to talk to Lillie again but, right when he thought about approaching her, he stopped in his tracks. She was right on the road ahead of him. She was dressed up in that style his mother liked. She had grown so much from that little kid he used to know. So much had changed between them both. Would she still recognize him? Would she still love him even though he ran away? But, in the end, he couldn't do it. He felt so ashamed for leaving her like he did. She didn't need him though and she was getting along fine on her own. As Gladion continued to watch her, he saw her get approached by Sun and Hau. She smiled at them happily and Gladion realized then and they were worlds apart now: she had friends. She was happy and he knew that either Lusamine hadn't touched her or she doesn't remember. Either way, he was thankful that she could be happy despite everything. She had her friends, she wasn't alone. She was going to be fine as long as they were with her. Gladion turned to leave and Sun noticed him walking away. He stared off after him as he left. Hau ran up ahead on the trail, leaving Lillie alone with Sun.

"Did you see something, Sun?" Lillie asked.

Sun was half way tempted to say that he did see someone but, thought better of it. He had a feeling that Gladion preferred to be alone for the moment.

"No, it's nothing. Hey, do you know a guy named Gladion? You and him look similar." Sun said.

"Yeah! He's my big brother! He ran away from home two years ago though. I don't entirely know why but I remember he feared mother a lot. She never did anything to us but then, sometimes she and him would go somewhere every month and I'd never see him for a day. He'd always come back acting weird but he'd tell me he couldn't remember what had happened." She said.

"Oh... are you sure he doesn't remember anything?" Sun asked.

"I don't know. Maybe he did. Maybe that's why he ran. Have you seen him?!" Lillie asked, hopeful.

"Once. He was kind of rude to me. But maybe I should expect it from a Skull Grunt." Sun said.

Lillie's face fell and she looked sad.

"Oh... I don't get why he joined Team Skull. He used to be so kind and he loved to help with the rescue pokemon." Lillie said.

"Well, the grunts did say that he foiled their plans to steal some pokemon. I think he has his reasons for being with them. He's not there to steal anything." Sun said.

"That's a relief... I miss him. We used to play together all the time." She said sadly.

"Sounds like you were close." Sun said.

"Yeah, we were. We were best friends." Lillie said with a fond smile.

Hau ran back to them and walked next to them. He completely missed the previous part of the conversation nor did he bother to ask about it.

"I have a sister, too. She and I are twins but she lives with my grandma." Sun said.

"Really? Why?" Lillie asked.

"Our mom and grandma are both a bit old school. It's tradition for the first born to be offered to their grandparents to be raise. The firstborn boy is offered to the paternal grandparents while the firstborn girl is offered to the maternal grandparents. But, our dad died and his family disowned him so there was no way I would have gone to anyone else. Besides, mom would have only allowed us to go to our grandparents if they lived nearby. She's still our mother after all." Sun said.

"I'm sorry about your dad but, that's weird." Lillie said.

"Not really. I live with my grandpa for the same reason his sister lives with her grandma." Hau said.

"Did your parents have to?" Lillie asked.

"No." Both boys said.

"No, mom chose to let grandma raise my sister. All grandma needed to do was say yes. It also helps if your family lives close to each other. We used to live in the same house back in Kanto." Sun said.

"Well I guess if it's fine with everyone, there's no issue. What's your sister's name?" Lillie asked.

"Moon." Sun said.

"Sun and... Moon?" Lillie said, giving him a weird look.

"Yeah, my grandma calls her Mahina. It's the Alola translation of her name. Mom named us that because of her name, Kalani. Her name means the heavens or sky. So she named Moon and I our names as a play on her own name." Sun said.

"Heh. That's actually pretty cool. I like your names." Lillie said.

"Thanks." Sun said.

Hau then ran in front of them with his usual grin.

"Hey, let's go get some malasadas! I'll pay!" Hau said.

Lillie smiled and walked after him.

"Okay, let's go, Sun!" Lillie said.

Sun stared off where Gladion disappeared, as if trying to somehow solve the mystery behind the edgy teen by looking at where he's been. Hau suddenly grabbed his hand in one hand and Lillie's in his other hand. Lillie blushed as Hau did this and Sun smirked when he saw her blush. He totally called it! She likes Hau! Sun secretly shipped them. Hau ran off with them both.

"Let's go!" He said enthusiastically.

Lillie giggled and ran with him while Sun laughed. He wouldn't trade his friends for the world. Gladion watched from the tree line sadly and enviously. He couldn't help but wish he could be with them. After all, he was supposed to be on his island challenge by now. Those guys... he could join them, couldn't he? Lillie would probably question him but he knew her too well. After he'd tell her what he could (except the part where he was tortured. He didn't want to ruin her image of mother or else it would ruin her for sure), she'd smile and accept him back as her brother. Hau and Sun were far too cheerful and forgiving to refuse his friendship. They could all be friends... he could take on his island challenge, too. Maybe he could just have fun for once. But, he shook his head of those thoughts. He had to get stronger! He'll be able to take part in the island challenge after he stops the Aether foundation. He turned and walked away to go train more.

* * *

 **That's it for this chapter. I think I'll bring in and tell about Moon's life in the next chapter.**


	4. Gratitude

**Well lets get to when Gladion gets to retake Aether paradise!** **  
**

* * *

Gladion had found out recently about some troubling news from Plumeria. They were looking for a pokemon called cosmog. Gladion was both alarmed and confused when he found out. How did they know about cosmog?! Ever find something out and wonder how it got there? This was one of those moments! It was unbelievable that they would know. He could have sworn cosmog was top secret at the Aether Foundation. He remembered cosmog from his childhood. It always got out of the labs and whenever it did, it would find Lillie and they would play together. Lusamine always took him back but somehow, Nebby always managed to find its way out and back to Lillie. The damn thing was an escape artist! But, all Gladion knew was that he needed to find out where cosmog is. Then, he heard a loud and familiar voice. It was Hau. He rolled his eyes and walked over to where that voice was.

"You only have one volume, don't you? Haven't you heard the expression that silence is golden?" He asked, annoyed at Hau's voice.

"Gah! He's back!" Hau said, surprised.

Gladion walked down the steps towards them. Hau was a little scared of Gladion. Sun mirrored Gladion's annoyed look. Did this guy really have to be so rude? Hard past or not, that's no reason to throw respect out of the window. Sun knew he had to say something.

"Rude much?" Sun asked.

Gladion internally berated himself. He really shouldn't be rude to people but it became a habit ever since he joined Team Skull. It was still no excuse but he didn't see any reason to apologize. He had more important matters to discuss with them. He was stressed because of this news.

"Listen, Team Skull is looking for a pokemon called cosmog... Do you two know anything?" He asked, having a hunch that his sister's escape and Cosmog missing were connected.

"What?! N-not that we'd tell you!" Hau said quickly.

"We're not saying anything." Sun said.

Their responses made it painfully obvious that they do know something. Gladion was glad to hear something about it. He had a lead of sort or it was at least better than nothing. At least the two strongest trial goers he had ever encountered knew about it. He knew they would help out if he told them. These two were brave and that's what made them strong to begin with. Surely they'd help out if they knew the whole truth. Sun, meanwhile, kept his sharp, watchful, eyes on him. Sun was observant so much so that it was uncanny. He could figure people out faster than anyone else can but Gladion was more of a mystery than he was used to. Still, he knew in due time it would all be clear. All he knew right now is that Gladion wasn't a bad guy and he had a feeling that he wasn't asking them to hand anything over.

"So you do know something. Look... Cosmog isn't even a strong pokemon. But it has the power to summon pokemon so terrifyingly strong that you don't even know. If something like that would happen, it would be a disaster for Alola..." He said.

Both Sun and Hau looked at him with alarmed faces.

"A disaster? Like... a real disaster? Then what're we supposed to do about it?" Hau asked.

"Protect it! If you do know where Cosmog is or if you do find anything out...just keep it safe! I know I might be working for Team Skull right now, so you may not trust me or care but... I'm going to tell you this just once. You have to protect cosmog no matter what!" He said before walking away.

He then paused because he decided to mention something else.

"I still don't even understand how Team Skull found out about Cosmog in the first place." He said

"What do you mean? No matter what? You just gonna leave us hanging?!" Hau asked.

Gladion wordlessly walked off. Sun didn't know what made him say what he did but he had a hunch it would effect Gladion if mentioned and he knew his hunches regarding people were rarely wrong. If he was wrong this time, all it would do is just confuse Gladion anyway.

"Gladion. Whatever is going on, you can't run from it forever." Sun said.

Gladion went rigid and for a moment, both boys thought he might have turned around and battle them but he continued to walk. Now Sun scared him a little. That boy read people way better than anyone else. It shook Gladion down to his very core that he knew what to say to people. He was right, all he had been doing this whole time was run and try to tell himself that there was still time. There really wasn't any time left at all. The more time he spent just trying to get stronger, the more danger cosmog, Lillie, and the world were in. He knew he had to find it or else Lillie would never forgive him for letting Nebby die. He then ran down the road instead of walk. Time couldn't be wasted anymore.

* * *

He had a lead that took him to Aether House. He saw Sun and Acerola run back in and he had a feeling that Cosmog might be in there. After all, Sun did obviously know something about Cosmog. Aether House was different from the Aether Foundation: they won't sell out a pokemon to the likes of Team Skull. After all, it was not directly linked to the Aether Foundation. Acerola started it up and she ran things differently than the main base. The Aether Foundation merely funded it to look good. Gladion walked over to the doors but he ended up overhearing the conversation.

"Miss Lillie..." Said the young boy, crying.

"She's gone!" The little girl added worriedly.

Hau explained the story about what happened. Gladion's hand balled into a fist. He counted on these guys to protect cosmog but in the end, they failed. Not only that, Lillie got kidnapped, too. Who knows what will happen to her when Lusamine gets her hands on them?! Gladion had to do something... although, at this point, he wasn't thinking rationally. He felt nothing but anxiety and anger.

"That Plumeria lady came back as soon as Acerola left..." Hau said.

"What?!" Acerola said, alarmed.

"I'm supposed to be a trainer! But when it came down to it, Lillie had to protect me... Lillie who's not a trainer to begin with!" Hau said sadly.

Gladion bolted in through the doors. He had to know if it was Lillie.

"Did I hear that right?! It was Lillie who took Cosmog?!" Gladion demanded.

"Geh! You know who Lillie is?!" Hau asked, surprised.

"And you all are so useless and weak now that cosmog is... Lillie is..." He growled.

He was so angry at these two. Do they know the crisis they're in! Do they know how much danger both Lillie and Cosmog are in right now?! They needed to be taught a lesson. He zeroed in on Sun since he was the strongest trainer there.

"Arghhh! I'll show you how angry you make me!" He snarled, releasing Golbat.

Sun quickly released his decidueye. They battled and as they did, Gladion realized he was being stupid. First of all, they don't have time for this. Second, he just irrationally started a battle when he really needs his pokemon at full strength. Thirdly, he just got angry at Sun for no real reason. Whether he won or lost, he knew he'd have to apologize. Sure enough, Sun won but Gladion knew he deserved to lose this time. Type: Null fell but he looked at Gladion in concern as he was returned. The boy sighed and returned his Type: Null.

"That was wrong of me... I shouldn't have dragged you into a meaningless battle like that..." He said.

"Yeah, seriously, take a chill pill." Sun said, returning his pokemon.

"But I told you both! I told you that Cosmog will bring disaster to all of Alola! I have to get it back from them! We'll leave from the ferry terminal. You're coming with me whether you like it or not, so the only question is, are you ready to come now or not?" He asked.

"You don't even have to ask. We need to rescue them." Sun said.

"Good. Then let's go." Gladion said.

They got down to the ferry terminal. Hau had to go back into town to get something as well as heal his pokemon. Gladion used potions and revives, too impatient to go to a pokemon center. Sun came up behind him and Gladion turned to face him.

"Hmph! So we're waiting for Hau?" Gladion asked.

"He'll come." Sun said.

"Yeah, I guess so... He's a pretty interesting kid. I'll give you that. Growing up in the great Kahuna's shadow and still trying to stand up to Hala as an equal? I couldn't do it..." Gladion said.

"Yeah, he is tougher than he looks. And he still manages to keep a big smile despite everything." Sun said.

Then, Nanu approached them.

"Officer Nanu?!" Gladion said surprised.

"If only Team Skull could've just kept themselves and their trouble making to Po Town... Why'd they have to make all this fuss, huh?" He asked.

Gladion looked away, unable to meet Nanu's eyes. Nanu urged Gladion long ago to quit Team Skull and start his own trial. He wanted to try and get Gladion to go off and be a kid for once. Gladion felt guilty for being part of Team Skull and not keeping them under control anymore than he did. If only the old officer knew what had been going on. Nanu then turned to Sun.

"You there, boy. I am an island kahuna. Battle _against me._ It'll be a good experience for you if you're really hoping to master the island challenge." Nanu said.

"Okay, I will." Sun said.

"Don't take it too seriously." Nanu said.

And they battled. It was a tough battle for Sun and Gladion couldn't help but admire how Sun was with his pokemon. Sun could calculate and predict the trainer's next moves almost perfectly. He was a tough trainer, anyone could see that. However, Nanu wasn't to be discredited, either. His pokemon were veterans in their own right and while Sun was good at reading their moves, that didn't mean he could anticipate their strength. Sun's team took heavy damage but none of them fainted. He defeated Nanu with a triumphant smirk. Nanu gave his rare smirk.

"Well, shoot... Of course I already knew you had the heart and the strength to storm Team Skull's stronghold, but I didn't know you were this good. And your Pokémon worked real hard for you. Let me fix your team up for you." Nanu said, healing his pokemon with full restores.

Then Nanu took out the dark type z-stone.

"This is yours." He said, giving it to him.

"Thanks." Sun said, taking it and putting it away.

"If you want to us the dark-type Z-power, you've gotta do it like this." Nanu said.

Nanu then did the action and if it wasn't for the fact that the situation was serious, both Gladion and Sun would have laughed their butts off. Gladion just gaped at him. Did he seriously just do that?! Nanu then turned his back, a little embarassed. He does have to lower his pride a little in order to do that.

"There. Congratulations or whatever." He said.

He then walked away but then paused. He wanted to say one last thing to Gladion.

"You've got somewhere else to be, don't you? Try not to destroy the whole place. Oh... and you, boy. Gladion." He said.

Gladion straightened up.

"Tell me... If you're really trying to get stronger as you say then what're you depending on Team Skull for?" He asked before walking away.

Gladion then turned back to the sea.

"I really didn't have much of a choice to begin with..." he muttered.

"Hm?" Sun asked.

Then Hau came up from behind them.

"Sun!" Hau shouted.

Gladion looked at him with a glare.

"Don't you dare say a word about this being fun." He said, shaking his head.

"I won't... If I'd been stronger, then Lillie wouldn't have... I'm ready to do whatever it takes to take back our smiles and our fun adventure!" He said seriously.

Of course he still smiled after saying that but it was a little more forced. Then he went back to being serious.

"But where was Lillie taken? It couldn't have been Po Town. Sun was there the whole time." Hau said.

"Hmph! So you're not quite as dumb as you are naive. It'll be Aether Paradise." Gladion said.

"Aether Paradise?!" Hau asked in shock.

"Somehow... I am not surprised." Sun said.

* * *

Moon frowned as she went about her shift. She worked the night shift all the time because she loved the night time. Sun hadn't answered her call tonight and that worried her. She sighed, figuring that tonight she'd never hear from him. She hated it whenever he wouldn't call her or answer her calls. They were not exactly good at remaining apart or out of touch for very long. They used to do everything together, they'd explore, share secrets, bathe, share a bed (although they had their own), befriend and rescue pokemon, and all sorts of things. They were practically soulmates. Of course, they each didn't mind going off on their own, hence Moon becoming a ranger. She was the youngest in the class and while the age was normally ten, she was allowed to attend if she turned ten within the school year which she just barely made the cut. A day later and she would have had to wait another year to become a ranger. Sun didn't want to become a ranger though, he wanted pokemon and the freedom to explore. To him, there was nothing greater than the freedom of being a pokemon trainer. Moon, however, already had a sense of purpose and that was to rescue pokemon.

Still, Moon envied her brother's skill in battle. He could read everyone like a book with his sharp eyes and predict just about everything. Moon, however, was a bit of a day dreamer and never had any set strategies when it came to pokemon battling. So she just figured it wasn't her forte and left it to her brother to become the trainer. But, there was nothing she would have loved more than to also go on her own journey with pokemon. She originally wanted to wait until she was older to be a ranger but she doubted her own ability to be a trainer. So she decided 'why wait?' and took the entrance exam to be a ranger. Now, here she was in the Kanto region on her nightly patrol with her partner pokemon, zoroark. Her zoroark was shiny. Moon rescued her from an illegal shipment of a pokemon trade ship. Zoroark was only a little zorua at the time but ever since Moon had released her, she hadn't left Moon's side since. Her pager then went off.

"Come in, Moon." the voice said on the other end.

"This is Moon. Go ahead, Posy." Moon said.

"We need you to head over to the Johto region. They're short on rangers. Think you can make it?" Posy asked.

"Yep. Be right there." Moon said.

Moon covered both the Johto and Kanto regions. Sometimes she alternated between the two regions. She looked around and saw a nearby pigeot. She used her styler to befriend it and soon enough, she and Zoroark were on their way to the Johto region. They landed in Newbark town, Moon and Zoroark hopped off of pigeot mid flight. She laughed and whooped as she dropped down and zoroark smirked before grabbing hold of Moon and putting her onto her back. Zoroark and she landed in some trees before landing on the ground smoothly. It was a dangerous move but these two loved doing it. Moon got off zoroark and waved at the pigeot before it flew off.

Meanwhile, Sun is inside the boat with Gladion and Hau. Hau was just anxiously walking around while Gladion was driving. Bored out of his mind, Sun decided that now would probably be a good time to take a picture of the edgelord. So he took a picture of Gladion and he gave Sun a weird look. Sun shrugged.

"I'm bored." He said.

"Why take a picture of me?" Gladion asked.

"To show my sister. She likes to know what my friends look like." Sun said.

"Hmph. We're not friends." He said.

Sun rolled his eyes. Yeah they were. So Sun sent the picture to Moon and she received it while patrolling the Johto region. She nearly tripped over when she saw the picture. She furiously text her brother back to respond.

 _He's so cute!_ she texted.

Sun chuckled when he saw her reply. He decided to show Gladion.

"Moon likes you." He said with a smirk.

Gladion blushed and focused his eyes back ahead of them.

"We don't have time for this." Gladion said, trying to get Sun to drop the topic.

"Heh. I could set you up when this is over and done with." Sun joked.

Gladion face palmed and grew annoyed.

"She's ten and I'm thirteen. Ain't that a little too young?" Gladion asked.

"Hey, my dad was five years older than my mom." Sun said.

"Okay, if I was fifteen and she was ten, that would be even worse." Gladion said.

"Good point... but we'll be eleven soon. How about then?" Sun said with a smirk.

"Why are you joking about setting up your own sister with a guy like me?" Gladion asked.

"Who said I was joking? You're her type and I have a feeling you'd get along." Sun said.

"Don't you ever feel weird about the thought of her dating someone?" Gladion asked.

"Oh heck no! We try to set each other up all the time!" Sun laughed.

"Maybe it's different for twins." Gladion said.

"Nah! It's just how Moon and I are." Sun said.

"Well whatever. Let's just focus on the main task at hand and then we can talk about this." Gladion said.

"Okay." Sun said before texting his sister.

He had to make up a story that Moon will believe.

 _Sorry! Can't chat tonight! Really busy! Some crazy lady is on a rampage. We're gonna go stop this woman from being stupid._ Sun said.

He technically wasn't lying. Moon giggled, imagining a crazy old lady with a cane wreaking havoc in a store or something.

 _K! Just glad you said something! Have fun! Thanks for the eye candy. You're the best, Sunny!_ She texted before going back to the task at hand.

Both of them were relieved to hear from each other but for different reasons. For Moon, it was just a habit to stay in touch with her beloved twin but for Sun, he worried it might be the last time he'd text her.

* * *

The familiar labs caused his mind to reel. He was more afraid of this place than either of them. But, the older boy couldn't panic, not now. He had to go on. After all, this was all he had ever set out to do in the past two years: get stronger and take back Aether Paradise. Besides, he was much too proud to let himself breakdown in front of Hau and Sun. 'Nebby, we're here for Nebby and Lillie' he reminded himself. Lillie will be fine, their mother wouldn't find her worthy of going near Nihilego anymore anyway. But when they went to the labs, Gladion had to sometimes focus on moving. The anxiety in him gripped him with fear and he had to do everything in his power not to show it. He was really thankful that Hau and Sun were with him to keep him sane. If he had done this on his own, he knows that he would be a mess by now. Not to mention they helped him get past all of the guards with much more ease than he could have on his own. The pokemon here are enhanced with Nihilego's poison, making them tougher than usual.

Then they got to Faba, defeated him with ease and had him take them through the elevator. But, with the smug look on the old man's face, Gladion knew that he was likely going to stall them. He unlocked the labs for them to go to, a place that Gladion dreaded but he knew he had to search. Maybe he'd get some clarity by being here. He then came to the lab where he and Type: Null had been experimented on. Gladion went rigid as he stood outside the door. Hau and Sun looked at him with questioning looks. He already told them to go look in secret lab B.

"You guys go look in the other lab. I'll look in here." Gladion said.

Hau ran off, anxious to find Lillie, while Sun lingered. Sun was perceptive and he always could tell if something was wrong. Gladion's fear of this place didn't get past him, either.

"Why? Is there something in here you don't want us to see?" Sun asked.

"I don't know yet. Go catch up with Hau." He told the younger boy.

"Are you going to be okay? You've been tense the whole time since we got in here. I can understand that you've ran away and things might be awkward but there's something else... You're afraid. You're acting like you might die if you'll stay here." Sun said.

Gladion trembled but then forced himself to stay still, balling his left fist even though it hurt. Sun wasn't wrong. His uncanny instinct was almost scary.

"Please don't... Listen, I might tell you later but now is not the time to talk about my life story. Please, just go. I need to do this on my own." Gladion said.

Sun hesitantly walked away.

"Just don't do anything stupid. You may act all smart and tough but you can fly off the handle a little too quickly. Our last battle indicated that. If you take too long in there, I will have to come get you myself." Sun said before going into the other lab.

Gladion then looked at the door and took a deep breath before opening it. The lab hadn't changed much since he had last seen it. In fact, it felt like that day he had just followed his mother in here but emptier. There was even a... Type: Null behind the glass. It paced around restlessly. Gladion couldn't believe his eyes as he walked up to the glass. They made another one?! It noticed him and tilted its head in curiosity before walking up to the glass. Who is this? The Type: Null had never seen this boy before. What could his purpose here be? Is this another experiment? Gladion walked over to a nearby pokeball, confirmed that it was the Type: Null's before letting the glass open. Type: Null just stood there, waiting for whatever procedure was about to come. This one was eerily cooperative and that worried the boy. Gladion wordlessly returned it to its pokeball before leaving the lab. He'll find out more about it later... after he retakes the Aether Foundation and stops this madness once and for all.

Gladion went outside the room and rested against the door, controlling his breathing. He didn't want the Aether Foundation's name to be covered in anymore blood and suffering. Sun came to check on him later. Gladion opened his mouth to question Sun but he beat him to it.

"Nothing yet. Just making sure you're okay. Any sign of cosmog?" Sun asked.

Gladion decided to tell Sun a small part of his past. Sun eyed the door behind him curiously. What was in there that he didn't want him to see?

"It's not here...Don't even think about getting in here. Me and Null...We're more alike than we look. We're both what we were made to be. I was like an ornament to my mother. Wearing whatever she told me to wear, acting however she wanted me to act... Null was crafted just as carefully. It was made just to battle the beasts. In this room...right here.." He said.

"Oh... but that still doesn't explain your fear of this place." Sun said.

"Sun, I will tell you when I'm ready." Gladion said.

"Okay... I'll go back to the lab and help Hau search. Are you going to be okay?" Sun asked.

"I'm fine. Just go." Gladion said.

Sun ran off to the lab down the way. It wasn't too long before they found out the truth. Gladion ran to them when they exited the lab. They told him and then they rushed upstairs to fight the rest of the Aether Foundation and Team Skull.

* * *

Gladion couldn't believe it! He just lost to Guzma, again! He fell to his knees. All that time trying to train and get stronger and for what?! Type: Null even smashed his helmet in the battle and though free, it must have thrown him off. Because Golisopod easily took him out.

"Ngh! So I'm still not strong enough. All those days I struggled alone and lonely... It was all for nothing? Is that it?" He said, distraught.

Sun then came to his side, having just beaten the grunts behind them. He glared at Guzma while Gladion gaped at him.

"I'll handle this guy, Gladion. Just take care of your pokemon." Sun said.

"The hated boss who beats you down and beats you down and never lets up... Yeah. Big bad Guzma is here!" He sneered.

Sun just continued to glare at him. Guzma then continued.

"I did that spoiled little brat a favor and crushed him. Yeah, that was me. Y'know, I kinda liked you, kid. Leaving home like that and wanting to get stronger and stronger. You had some real guts. Going so far as to come over to Team Skull. And rejecting your own mother?! That was impressive." Guzma said.

Gladion gritted his teeth, a painful expression on his face. Sun took out a pokeball and stood in front of Gladion.

"And now it's your turn. You little misfits keep getting up in my grill, like a cloud of smoke I can't brush away. It's time I put out your fire at the source!" Guzma sneered.

Sun, however, beat Guzma easily. It was because Sun could read Guzma more easily than anyone else. He was not much different from his reckless team. Guzma was only just a lot of might and brawn. He had some potential genius in there but it seems that he was too cocky. Sun returned his pokemon and glared at Guzma.

"Guzma! What is wrong with you?!" He said out loud to himself.

"You're too easy to read just like the rest of your grunts. Seriously, you need to stop being so cocky. It makes for a poor poker face. You rely too heavily on brute force and that was your downfall. For Arceus' sake! Take your battles seriously and lose that overconfidence! You'll just eventually get your pokemon needlessly hurt against someone like me." Sun said.

Guzma glared but moved aside.

"Tch. Looks like I got no choice. Go on through." Guzma said.

Sun and Hau went ahead of Gladion while he stayed on the ground, lost in thought.

* * *

Gladion would have gone with Sun and Lillie through the Ultra Wormhole if he could but, if he did, there was no telling what could happen. The poison from Nihilego still coursed through his body from those experiments. It would take years for Gladion to completely be free of the poison. The thing is, when he went near his own mother, he could feel himself slipping. He could feel the pull of Nihilego trying to grab a hold of him. The faded scar on his arm even turned a slight purple from the residual poison becoming active. If Gladion truly knew what Nihilego was about to do to Lusamine, it would have probably scared him even more. Nihilego brought Lusamine into the Ultra World to consume her. If Gladion went anywhere near Nihilego, it would have grabbed hold of him like it did with Lusamine and have him be the next host for finding more minions as well as be its next meal. If he came into any contact with it, it would have consumed Lusamine faster because he would be its next host.

You see, Nihilego was a parasitic organism. It takes over one host and then expands its influence onto others through its current host. Nihilego also lives in groups and for awhile, it was believed that only one had visited the labs but that was false. Several of them had visited the labs, each to give their neurotoxin and provide a factory to feed their group of humans. Some Aether workers had disappeared and never been found again because of some of these creatures finding their own hosts. Lusamine was saved for the queen of the group. Nihilego would be powerful in the fusion form with her briefly before inevitably slowly digesting Lusamine and then becoming one. Their primary targets are women which is why some are seen acting like girls: its the conscious from their last victim still lingering. Most pokemon can be trained out of their worst habits but Nihilego was probably one of the only pokemon that the world would have been better without. It didn't have a conscious, only a survival instinct. That's all that's ever powered its motivation and why Lusamine seems to have no other feeling for anything else.

Now, while they were in the other world, Gladion could only wait for Sun and his sister anxiously. In the meantime, he talked to professor Kukui and Hala. He was hesitant but filled them in as to why he joined team Skull. He still refused to talk about what happened to him in the labs but, the adults already figured out that he had gone through horrendous trauma. So they didn't press Gladion further. He mostly came, however, to personally thank Kukui for helping his sister and looking after her. It turns out that Lillie had found a family with the professors and they looked after her like the child they never had. They offered him shelter, too. But, though tempting especially since Gladion didn't want to face the Aether foundation, he declined. He was determined to go back and make sure the Aether foundation was ran right. He wasn't going to let anything bad happen to the foundation or the workers. So he poured over all paperwork on the research about the Ultra Beasts and other pokemon. But he stumbled upon some of the missing notes from Silvally and it shocked him.

"Gladion, sir. Lady Lillie has finally returned." One of the aether workers said.

Everyone looked a little pale since they had been cut off from the poison. Some of the workers needed to be restrained but most of them are just currently having some weakness and a slight loss of color from the withdrawal. Most of them, after learning the truth behind the poison, willingly quit. Those who didn't had to be restrained until their bodies worked out the residual poison in their systems. Chances are, they were close to being consumed by other Nihelego if they were already that gone. That was the case typically. Gladion went into the conservation area and saw Lillie. She walked up to Gladion and gave him a hug.

"I'm glad you're okay." Lillie said, hugging him.

"That's my line." He chuckled, hugging her back.

"I got mother out of there. She's alright. I'm going to slowly tell her that what she did was wrong." Lillie said pulling away from him.

"Lillie, I don't think she can be helped." Gladion said, not looking at her.

"Gladion, I don't think she was in control." Lillie said.

"No. Nihilego is parasitic. It takes over the host and manipulates them. Faba has been keeping some secret notes. He hasn't consumed any of the poison, either. Nihilego gets into their head and makes their host obey. No doubt, the woman she's been isn't her. It was all Nihilego... but I don't think there's any helping her. She did things to me, Lillie. She hurt me... a lot." Gladion said, unable to meet her eye.

"Those times you and her went somewhere..." Lillie said in realization.

"I was given a drug to erase the memory of the event. But I remember... it wasn't pleasant. Did mom do anything to you?" He asked.

"No." Lillie said.

"Are you sure?" Gladion asked.

"When you left, she hardly said anything to me. She never approached me since. It wasn't until I turned ten that she told me some things. That's when I found out that they were going to hurt Nebby. I had to save him. So I took him and ran but they caught me. That's when Nebby saved me and teleported us out of there but, when he did, he couldn't move for days. I was so scared. But mother isn't gone. I saw it, she's still there, Gladion. She called me beautiful for the first time since that thing came." Lillie said.

"...I won't stop you if you think you can help her. So is Nebby alright?" Gladion asked.

"Yeah. He evolved into Solgaleo. Sun caught him. He told me that until I become a strong enough trainer, he'll look after him for me." Lillie said.

"You made some good friends while I was gone. You didn't need me at all, did you?" Gladion said.

"Gladion, of course I did! We're family. Not a day went by that I couldn't think of you. Don't say that. You've always been my hero." Lillie said, hugging him.

"But I ran... I left you." he said.

"I was alright. Nothing bad happened until I got Nebby out. If you were getting hurt, then I would have wanted you to leave. Sometimes I wish you took me with but, if I went with, who knows what would have happened? Nebby could have died, Nihilego would have kept mom, and the Aether foundation would be worse off. You did what you had to do. I don't hate you for leaving. I'm just glad you're here. I'm glad you're okay." Lillie said.

Gladion wrapped his arms around her tight. He missed her so much... he finally had his only family back. He then let her go. He needed to go personally thank Sun for everything he did.

* * *

 **I was going to write him seeing Sun again in this chapter but, this one got really long, too. I'm working on another chapter already as well.  
**


	5. Lonesome

**Alright. This chapter is done.**

* * *

Moon watched the sky as the storm rolled in ominously. She had been called back into Kanto because it was the season for storms. She knew that this was tornado weather. She woke up at daylight to see this storm, the world a newsprint grey from fatigue. But seeing this storm had woken her up to forget the aching fatigue induced headache. She normally would have rolled over and fell back asleep but, she had a bad feeling about today for some reason. This storm didn't feel right and normally a thunderstorm relaxed her into sleeping. But she could already feel it in the air as it rolled in: this storm was dangerous. She was not going to permit herself to sleep through this. She could sleep after it passes. Her fire type partner pokemon, Infernape, close at her side. Infernape was always on guard, knowing that Moon never patrolled at daytime unless there's an event or if it's a day like today. He could also feel the trouble on the wind.

She sat in the first level of the parking garage and kept herself on standby as the rain started to fall and the thunder rumbled overhead. She looked at her holocaster and looked through her photos that Sun had recently sent. He had become the first champion of the Alola region eight months ago. She saved all of the photos and posted them everywhere on social media. She was so proud of him. Her hair had grown out since then. It was in braids now. She and her grandma had also gained some money after running a malasada stand at a festival. They might be able to move to the Alola region sooner. Moon was hesitant. She was happy here in the Kanto region working to protect the pokemon and the people from trouble as a ranger. Alola didn't have rangers and Moon didn't want to quit her job to work for the Aether foundation either. It just wouldn't be the same. The wind picked up and Moon was forced to put her holocaster down. She looked around nervously as the wind picked up faster.

Plastic and pieces of cardboard blew down the road. She was on the outskirts of this town. The parking garage wasn't being used a lot either. Moon preferred staying on the quieter side of towns. She could deal with people and effortlessly socialize. But, she loved being alone and where there was less people, another reason why she liked being a ranger and working on the field. She wasn't in a hugely populated part of town. The rain hammered down around her but then, the rain started to slow but the wind picked up. It was eerily quiet. Moon's heart thudded in her chest loudly when she saw the sky around her get darker. Things weren't looking good. Then she saw it: a funnel cloud. Smaller tendrils of whirling wind whipped around it as it formed closely outside of town. Then one of the small funnels touched down. At first, it looked small but then, it looked like the whole sky fell down onto the ground with the smaller funnel being joined by other funnels and combining, making the largest tornado Moon had ever seen. It looked like it nearly took up the whole horizon and she stared at it, frozen in sheer terrified awe of it. This thing was easily two miles in diameter!

Infernape quickly grabbed her and pulled her down into the basement of the parking garage as the giant F5 came swirling toward the City. He kept Moon against the wall and behind him while they looked up at the ramp where just a little bit of the sky could be seen. A few cars quickly sped into the garage with them. She could hear just loud roaring wind rushing up above them. As it got closer, she saw a family rushing to get in and she felt her breathing catch as a child was lifted off the ground. Before even thinking, Infernape rushed out after the child and caught her but they both got swept away. The mother nearly ran out to go after them but her husband held onto her tightly. All Moon could do was stare, frozen with fear. But, she saw a flash of his flame before he bolted back in. He had used the momentum of the wind pulling him to catch himself on a flagpole and swing them back into the garage just in time. Infernape got back to Moon, the child curled up against him as he kept his body over Moon, his back facing the outside to protect them from what was coming. The family quickly rushed back next to them, the mother quickly taking her child back and both of the parents shielded their daughter as the edge of the tornado soon reached them. It was nothing but loud wind and Moon couldn't even hear herself think. Parts of the garage crumbled above them and infernape then heard a troubling noise above them.

Time seemed to go into slow motion as he heard part of the garage come down above. Moon was frozen with fear and the family wasn't moving. He grabbed Moon and jumped out of the way in time to avoid part of the garage from falling over them... but he couldn't move both Moon and the family. Moon panicked. That was a family! They need to help them! She tried running back to the rubble where they were buried but infernape grabbed her and immediately pulled her under him but not before she felt a sharp pain in her side towards her hip and she looked down to see a piece of wood sticking out from the shrapnel being whipped around. The tornado still raged on over them and it wasn't even over them completely. The wind got louder and more parts of the garage started to collapse all around them. But this time, they were in a stronger part of the building. Infernape kept Moon against the wall and averted her eyes from other parts of the garage... that family wasn't the only ones disappearing under the rubble but they were in the middle of the storm where destruction happened faster than thoughts. There was no time to think or even try to save anyone. All infernape could do was make sure his partner didn't move. The hell above them sounded like it lasted for an eternity. Finally, the tornado passed above them and the wind died down. Finally, infernape permitted his partner to look around.

Normally, young rangers aren't allowed to help with storms like this unless there's few casualties. It was for a good reason, too; a storm like this kills a lot of people. Nothing any young ranger should see. Out of all the people that took shelter with them, they were the only ones who didn't disappear under the rubble. This shocked Moon as she looked around in horror. She then rushed back over to the family and pulled off pieces of concrete, one after the other. Infernape helped her out as well, quickly pulling off the bigger pieces too heavy for Moon to lift. They finally got to the family but the first thing Moon saw was blood. She grew horrified at the sight. The man was crushed but his wife was holding their daughter close against her, shielding her from the site. Moon helped them out of there and sent infernape to check the others for more survivors while she walked out with them.

"Where's daddy?" The little girl whined.

Moon bit her lip and the mother cried but continued to walk far away.

"We need to go back for daddy! Daddy!" She cried, reaching over her mom's shoulder.

"Get somewhere safe. I need to see if anyone else needs help." Moon told her before going back with Infernape.

The mother carried her daughter away as she kept crying for her daddy. Moon felt herself break for the girl but she had a job to do. Moon helped infernape dig through more rubble. There were only three other survivors, one of them with their leg missing. Moon had to quickly tie a sweatshirt sleeve tightly around what was left of their leg to stop the bleeding. She then walked up to the surface and looked around the rubble quickly. So far, no other search and rescue units have been deployed but the tornado was still wreaking havoc. It was disheartening to see it still causing more destruction in the distance.

Moon looked all around but there was so much death. People and pokemon, this tornado didn't care who was in the way. Moon called out frantically to check for survivors. Her styler was broken, she couldn't contact HQ at all. But it at least still gave off a signal before all this. She silently prayed help would be sent her way as she ran down the street frantically. Rangers will be deployed in this vicinity immediately to search for her.

"Is anyone there!" She shouted as she ran.

For a moment, there was silence. Then there was a quiet sound, barely audible.

"Help... please." Someone said weakly.

Moon saw on the side of the road a woman half buried in debris. Moon ran over to the lady and had infernape move the debris off of her. Moon was shocked to see that she was pregnant. The wind had blown so hard that the woman had gotten stabbed by cardboard flying through the air at high speeds. Moon pulled one out of her back but blood started pooling in the front of the lady's chest. Moon was horrified to discover that the piece of cardboard had actually gone straight through her chest. She did not have anything to stop the bleeding. None of her first aid kit had the right stuff to stop this kind of bleeding. But she and infernape had to try. The lady, however, already knew her fate. She drew Moon's knife that she kept tucked into her boot. She held it up to Moon.

"If... If I don't make it... Make sure m-... make sure my baby lives. No matter what. Promise me... promise me you'll save her." The woman begged, stammering in fear and weakness.

Moon and Infernape tried keeping pressure on both wounds but the blood was seeping through their fingers. Moon was horrified as to what the lady was implying and shook her head.

"Help! Someone! Please! She's dying!" Moon called out.

All Moon could hear was other groans and cries for help. So many other people needed help. Moon had never felt more useless in her life than she did at that moment. Then the knife fell from the lady's hand and it clattered onto the bloody concrete. Moon could hear the last of the lady's breath leave her. She stared in shock. This was why young rangers were usually never put in destruction path of the tornado: this was no job for an eleven year old child. She looked at the woman's belly and noticed it moving rapidly.

"The baby! It can't breathe!" Moon said, panicked.

But, there was only one thing she could do. Shakily, Moon picked up her knife. What she had to do in order to save this one life... was going to stay with her forever.

* * *

Gladion spent his days looking into what research that had been done while he was away. He found the notes on the Type: Null he found here. It was more docile than his own. It complied with the experiments despite the pain. It had developed a state of mind that there was nothing it could do to be free from this place. So it accepted the lab as just it's life. Gladion knew he could trust Sun to take it outside of this lab and show it the world. It already tolerated humans well enough to where it didn't need to be humanized even though affection confused it at first, it's only contact with humans was when it would need injections, modifications, or having its wounds dealt with. But, the last time Gladion saw it, it already shattered its own helmet. It had become more sociable with people and a huge part of Sun's team.

Gladion's Silvally, however, was still a little nervous around other people, especially in the aether foundation. Not only that, he also looked sad for some reason and always looked at the frozen Type:Null longingly. This confused Gladion. Silvally was obviously fond of the frozen Type: Null but the process of thawing it and keeping it alive in the process takes a long time. Not to mention the pokemon will be comatose for awhile once thawed. They were prepping to thaw all of the pokemon, of course. It was just risky and prep time also took awhile. Gladion searched for more information and then he found it. It was a drawer in Faba's old office where he found not a file but video documentation of this one.

Gladion decided to play the video in his room.

"Day one of subject three. We are working to make a female beast. We need something to breed with the current two subjects. The other two subjects were meant to be a male and a female but they both developed into males. So here were are making one more. Subject one is far more docile than we'd like. But subject two is the perfect sire. So far, the fetus is developing nicely. In a few weeks time, she will be strong enough to live outside the development chamber." Faba said.

The camera zoomed in on a small developing body of a silvally. You could see a clear view of her front, obviously a female. She twitched in the chamber, a series of small chords attached to her developing body. It then cut to daily reports of her. Nothing too major changes but she is colored differently.

"It is unknown if this is a color unique to her gender or if she has the shiny gene. We'll have to take a DNA sample when she's strong enough to be delivered." Faba said.

Gladion watched in awe as he got to see step by step how a Silvally develops. Soon, it got to where it was finally the day for her to be born.

"Today is the day. Start draining the chamber." Faba ordered.

The chamber drained and the young Silvally became startled, moving in the chamber in protest. Her butt touched the bottom of the chamber first and then her side soon followed. She struggled to stand as the glass on the chamber lifted. All too quickly, they closed in on her, a restraint already placed around her face but she was still too small for an actual helmet at the moment. She struggled against everyone.

"No!" a young voice said, causing everyone to stop in their tracks.

"Did it just speak?!" Faba asked.

She tried backing herself away from them with her weak legs.

"No..." She said again.

"Telepathy!" One of them said, shocked.

But she panicked and struggled harder. Everyone was back to crowding and restraining her while she kept crying out that one word she knew. They then put her into an enclosure where she tried standing to get away from the door. She eventually settled and became more calm when trying to stand. Soon, she was able to walk.

"Subject 3 is definitely a very special case. She'll make a great mother." Faba said.

Gladion cringed at this, dreading what Faba had planned for her. But, she was still young currently because it even states on the description that she's still a juvenile. They didn't breed her already, did they? He continued to watch her daily reports. She developed the same way as her predecessors, all except reproductive functions where the same. She seemed to mature a little slower which was unusual for females of most species but she was created by humans after all. To be fair though, both of her predecessors were in their chambers longer and were born adults. She was a multitude of different experiments meshed in one. But, Faba was growing impatient with her progress on maturity. Then, soon, an entry came in.

"She has started the first day of her reproductive cycle. She has officially reached sexual maturity. This means we'll soon be able to go to the main phase of this experiment. But, she is a bit strong willed. We'll need to get her into a helmet before introducing her to the male. She's still a juvenile but, if juvenile lillipups can lay eggs early, than so can she." Faba said.

This shocked Gladion that Faba would say that. Just because some pokemon can breed right after hatching doesn't mean they should! It's recommended even by novice breeders that lillipups or herdiers shouldn't be bred until about 2-3 years of age. For something as big as a Silvally, the wait was probably longer! She was considerably smaller than silvally at the time and even now while frozen, she's still small in comparison to him!

"We will make preparations while we fit her with a mask. We will have to see if any stimulus works with either of them to encourage breeding." Faba said.

The next entry was horrifying. She was strapped into some kind of rack that kept her immobilized and a little elevated. A tube was attached to her helmet likely to feed her some kind of drug.

"The female is not responsive to any of the pheromones or stimuli. She also will not go near the male. So we had to improvise a device for easier breeding. Since she's considerably smaller, we had to elevate her. Luckily, the male instinctively has the urge to mate once exposed to a certain pheromone combination. Now that the female is in place, this should be a piece of cake. Release him into the enclosure." Faba ordered.

Gladion watched as his partner was released into the enclosure. The pheromone was working already, it was... um, well, obvious. But, he was also concerned for the restrained female, sniffing her and checking out the device that held her. She struggled against the restraints and he became understandably hesitant. No doubt, her telepathy could probably be heard.

"This won't do. Her struggling is making him nervous. Put some stun powder into her mask. That should calm her down." Faba said.

Yellow dust went down the tube into her mask. She coughed but her body soon stilled. She couldn't even make much sound. Though confused, the male Type: Null mounted her. Gladion looked away, unable to watch his partner violate another pokemon. But, to be fair, he probably didn't understand what was going on. Neither of them did. The female yelped from pain but couldn't make much other noises other than a silent whine due to the paralysis.

"Success! We will know in a few days if this pairing worked. For now, I'll leave him to it for the day. She's not going anywhere." Faba said before cutting the video.

The next entry, she was still in the restraints.

"Looks like their first copulation failed. It seems that the female has a particular kind of cycle. After studying it some more, if my prediction is correct, the height of her fertility is tonight. It seems that she cycles with the moon, the very height of her fertility falling on full moons. Something tells me this is a natural occurrence of her DNA. She is also a little more receptive although she's still not willing to cooperate. Last time we allowed her in with the male without restraints, she tried to fight him. After an adjustment to the pheromone, there shouldn't be anymore hesitance on his part. The male seems to want to instinctively be close to her. I think that if they mated naturally, they'd mate for life. It is hard to say at the moment. Anyway, let him in." Faba ordered.

Gladion watched in horror as this poor Type: Null, for the next few days, got violated until his partner was finally removed when they confirmed she conceived. That entry still did not sit well with Gladion. How could Faba be excited about any of this? This female pokemon whom is obviously too young to be bred at all is being raped all in the name of science?! The next entry, however, was even worse.

There was blood in the enclosure and the young female struggled against a restraint. She was bleeding from her behind for some reason.

"It looks like subject three has miscarried. We are currently cleaning out her enclosure and tracking any traces of the fetus. The egg broke inside her abdomen because one of the workers was stupid enough to restrain her too harshly. As you can see, she is obviously in distress. We will need to sedate her and then try again next week." Faba said.

Gladion had already seen enough of her getting violated. He had to fast forwarded the second time they had her on the rack in the next entry. Only, his Type: Null started catching on that what he was doing was wrong and tried freeing her from the rack. But, he had already bred her again and Faba decided that it was best to just take him out all together. However, the next video, the egg had been laid. He paused it and hesitantly hit play to listen to the audio.

"She has laid the egg but it seems that she laid it too soon. There are no signs of any life inside the egg but something did develop. We'll be extracting it today." Faba said.

The young Type: Null was in the corner of her cage, having just laid the egg minutes ago. She was horrified of the object that had come out of her body. She didn't know what it was and didn't know what to think of it. Although her instinct must have kicked in because she tried fighting the robotic arm trying to grab the egg. She stood in front of it but still wouldn't go near it. But, she was forcefully restrained and the egg was taking out quickly while she cried out in misery. Gladion was too disturbed to be angry at what had been done for the moment. The next time, the video cuts to her in the enclosure again but with the male Type: Null. She wasn't in the rack but she wasn't moving either. She was just standing there, seeming to be in a daze. She was also no longer elevated and the height difference between the pair was painfully obvious: she looked to be almost half his size.

"Today we have used some stun spore mixed with a sedative. She won't move. Hopefully, her partner won't catch on again." Faba said.

Sure enough, they mated but now that she was more accessible for the older male, he spent time at her side. At first, he attempted to groom her but the helmet made that impossible. So he stayed at her side, as close as he could be. The stun spore soon wore off and she was losing balance but she leaned against him for support. Though she still feared him, she was in no position to try and fight him off because of how weak she felt with the sedative. He glared out at the glass, seeing that his mate obviously had something wrong.

"Get him out of there. He's caught on again. But we only needed her covered once." Faba said while the prod in the corner of the enclosure came to life.

The video cut to the next entry. The female Type: Null was resting next to an egg.

"She's finally done it! She's laid a healthy egg!" Faba said.

She was obviously tired but kept a close eye on the egg this time. Her small size was still apparent: if her helmet was off, that egg would probably be the size of her head. You'd think Faba would have waited until she was at a healthy breeding age. The last eggs might have survived.

"Subject three was uncooperative when we went in to check the egg but that's fine. She can babysit it until it hatches. Her work is done." Faba said.

Soon, there were follow up videos. Gladion got to learn a lot about how a silvally developed in an egg. But eventually, the egg finally hatched later. The female Type: Null stood up and watched the egg with fascination. Soon, a young Silvally was born and for a moment, everything looked alright as it staggered to its feet. But then, it collapsed, its mother catching it on the front of her helmet. The newborn was trying to gasp for air. Something was wrong.

"Quickly! Get in there and get it out! We can't lose this one!" Faba ordered.

But, the new mother was not about to let anyone or anything near her son. They tried using the prod but she resisted it despite it digging in on her back and putting a constant dose of electricity in her body.

"If we increase the charge anymore, it could kill her!" One of the workers said.

"Then get her sedated! Quickly!" Faba said.

So they shot her with a sedative. She still struggled despite losing her balance. She collapsed next to her son and a small group of workers ran in there. She tried to put herself over her child but three of the workers dove on top of her to restrain her. She cried out as her son got carried out of there. They dosed her with sleep powder and she fell asleep. In the lab, they tried reviving the young Silvally. It's lungs had filled with fluid. The poor thing didn't develop correctly. He also lacked a proper immune system. Sickness would have claimed him if the fluid in his lungs didn't. Gladion had a feeling that this had everything to do with the Type: Null not being a proper breeding age. Faba let out a waning sigh as the workers finally gave up reviving him.

"It's hopeless. Looks like the female can't be bred at this moment. I'll go see the President as to what we should do." Faba said.

The last entry was only hours after that. She had already been frozen.

"Subject three is now in frozen stasis. The president wants her with her as one of her personal frozen specimens. Sad. I was hoping to try again once more to breed her. But it looks like this is the last entry on her for now. This is Faba signing off." Faba said.

Gladion didn't know what to think. He felt so much anger towards Faba. What kind of sick person is okay with any of that? But the boy decided one thing: he needed to help this poor Type: Null and soon. She didn't deserve to be in frozen stasis any longer. He was going to make sure she got the help she needed but he forgot one thing: the last thing she remembers was seeing her dead son get dragged away from her. She was not going to make anything easy.

* * *

Moon walked down the street, she was looking for more survivors, running purely on instinct. In her arms was a bundle covered in blood. Moon herself was covered in blood. But all she could think about was going to help everyone else. So far, she and infernape have uncovered several people. Some people were okay, others weren't so okay. None of them really noticed she was too young to be out there helping, everyone just glad someone was there to help. No one even seemed to notice the newborn in her arms wrapped in a towel but then, Moon herself held onto the baby like it was the only thing keeping her going. Even with the weird looks, she never bothered to stop and explain. Finally, she heard another voice calling for help. She and infernape wasted no time in going over towards a building that was partially collapsed. They were in a room that was half collapsed, a wall of drywall and rubble blocking their way out.

"Infernape, get them out of there!" Moon said.

They cleared out the debris in the way of the small family. It was just a mother and daughter. They both had blonde hair and wore mostly white. It was Lillie and Lusamine, both of them were staying here in the Kanto region so that Lusamine could recover. Lusamine was shocked by Moon's appearance. She had recovered from Nihilego's poison considerably well and was almost completely back to normal.

"Are you hurt?" She asked, worriedly.

"I'm fine. Just helping as many people as I can." Moon said.

The baby in her arms started crying and Moon tried to sooth her. But she was in no shape to be doing anymore work. Her vision was getting blurry and she could barely stand. Lusamine walked up to Moon.

"Here, let me take the baby. You need a break." She said.

Moon allowed Lusamine to take the newborn from her. The older woman then seemed to sooth the baby with ease. Moon fell to her knees. Lillie noticed the piece of wood shrapnel in Moon's side.

"You're hurt!" She said, running up to help her.

"It's okay. I'm fine." Moon said.

"No you're not! How much blood have you been losing?!" Lillie asked, horrified at the wound Moon had.

"I'm fine. I just need to-" She said, faltering as she tried standing up.

Moon fell over onto herself. Lillie caught her and eased her down onto the ground so that she could lie down. Infernape was at her side, worried about his partner. Moon looked down at the wound and let out a sigh. She probably never should have left the parking garage but, in all this chaos, all Moon was able to think about was helping people. She looked at infernape.

"Get help." She told him.

He nodded and then quickly ran among the debris to go find a search and rescue team. Lusamine knelt down next to Moon and moved her so that she could put the young ranger's head on her lap.

"What is a young ranger like you doing out here? There's no way they would have deployed someone as young as you to come help with this." Lusamine said.

"I was caught in the middle of it. I didn't want to just sit around and do nothing." Moon said.

"This is no job for a child your age. Judging by your appearance, not all of this blood is yours. Who's baby is this?" Lusamine asked.

"Her mother died... I had to cut her out before she died, too." Moon said.

Lillie and Lusamine looked at Moon in shock.

"I had no choice... she couldn't breathe. Her mother told me if... There was nothing else I could... I could..." Moon said, tears brimming her eyes.

Moon broke down, the weight of the whole situation caving in on her. She could do nothing but cry. She saw way more death than she should have. That pregnant lady wasn't the only one she saw die right in front of her. Too many people have died in her arms today.

"Hey! Ranger Moon! Are you over here?!" Someone called.

"We're over here!" Lusamine called.

Lillie suddenly realized who this girl was.

"You're Moon?! I know you! I met your brother in the Alola islands!" Lillie said, surprised.

Moon swallowed back her tears and managed a small smile.

"Lillie... Sun told me all about you... Sorry we had to meet like this." Moon said.

"It's fine. I'm just glad help is here." Lillie said as the team approached with infernape leading them.

"Get the stretcher! She's hurt!" One of them said, rushing to her side.

Moon's mentor from the Fiore region, Lunick, had been deployed here today. Meaning that this disaster was probably worse than Moon knew if one of Fiore's best had been sent here.

"Lunick... I'm sorry. I couldn't... I-" Moon began.

"Quiet. We saw your styler signal on the radar. We thought you were dead. I'm just glad you're okay." He said.

"Lunick, I couldn't save... I couldn't..." Moon stammered as she was shifted to a stretcher.

"You really shouldn't have been here, kid. This is not a mission for children like you. There was nothing you could have done for any of the casualties, Moon. You did all you could. Just focus on yourself for now. I'll take everything from here." He said.

As she got carried to an ambulance, Lusamine and Lillie followed close behind. Moon wasn't able to remember anymore after that; she passed out.

* * *

 _Six months later..._

It was finally time. Gladion could finally thaw the Type: Null his mom had kept frozen. All preparations have been made. Usually, after being in frozen stasis, the pokemon is considerably weak and usually comatose but as the process of thawing her out began, something about it was different; her pulse was faster. The ice around her body began cracking far sooner than it should. It was worrying to both Gladion and the Aether workers. She shouldn't be thawing this quickly. Her helmet developed a crack because of the sudden shift. It wasn't until more cracks had formed on the ice around her that everyone realized why she was thawing so quickly.

"Gladion, I think she's still struggling!" One of the workers said.

"How? Shouldn't she be too weak to do that?" Gladion asked.

"She wasn't calm when she was frozen. She was still trying to fight while being sedated. Maybe the adrenaline from fighting at the time is still there?" One of the workers said.

"No, her body should have calmed after she was put in stasis." Another worker said.

More cracks formed, one of her front talons twitched.

"G-get... away." They heard a voice say.

"Who said that?" One of the workers asked.

"She did! How is her telepathy ability functioning? She shouldn't be able to even be conscious!" Another worker asked.

Suddenly, her front claws broke free.

"We should get ready to sedate her." One of the workers said.

"No, don't. She's already been through enough." Gladion said.

"Get away from me!" The voice cried.

Gladion's Silvally stood in a fighting stance in front of his trainer. She maybe his mate but she was still a threat at the moment. The young female soon broke free of the ice and leaped off of the machine she was in. She was shivering from both the cold and fear. Gladion put his hand on his Silvally to keep him calm but, he still walked forward. He called out to her: big mistake. She glared at him.

"You!" She roared before launching an attack.

Silvally dodged the attack and stood in front of Gladion. He then said something to her.

"Go away!" She snarled.

"We're trying to save you. We're not looking for a fight." Gladion said.

"You... hurt me. I can't... Hurt... Bad." She growled, trying to find the words.

"Is she alright? Why can't she say anything else?" Gladion asked.

"She wasn't around anyone long enough to properly learn much language. She was solely meant to be bred. Educating and interacting with her wasn't top priority. But, she knows perfectly well how to tell others to go away." One of the workers explained.

Suddenly, she ran out of the room, quickly dodging the other workers.

"After her!" Gladion said, running behind where she left.

Everyone ran after her but she was fast and very clever despite only knowing the lab part of this place. She was a quick thinker. Only Gladion and his Silvally were able to keep up. Soon, she figured out how to get outside. Gladion and Silvally managed to corner her on a ledge outside the building. It was the area between the mansion and the main building. She looked at the ocean and then back at them.

"We're not going to hurt you, I promise. I'll take care of you. Please..." He said, reaching out to her.

She then looked back at the ocean. She noticed the islands in the distance. She then looked back at Gladion as he realized what she was thinking.

"No! Don't! Your helmet will weigh you down!" He said.

But, she leapt backwards into the water, never to be seen again for a long time.

* * *

 _Meanwhile..._

Moon was at home after the disaster with the tornado. She was in bed as she looked at her holocaster: 45 missed calls, 32 messages. Most of them were from her brother, Sun. She felt bad for not answering him but ever since her last mission, she just couldn't bare to answer him. Six months had been the longest she's gone without contacting her twin. She got up from her bed, the world around her seeming to be grey in color. It was the height of summer and she had just awoke. She always woke up at 5 pm, being used to working at night. She stretched and then walked down the hall into the living room. Her grandmother was talking to someone outside. Moon walked over to the fridge and took out some juice to drink. On the fridge were newspaper cutouts.

 _Young Ranger Saves Lives After Monster Tornado Wreaks Havoc_

She was celebrated as a hero here in Kanto for what she did. But, she didn't feel like a hero... especially after having to cut someone open to save their baby. Moon couldn't shake the feeling that maybe the mother could have been saved despite what the reports said on her biopsy. It was left out on the news that Moon narrowly escaped being accused of murder. That woman's husband sure thought she was guilty... he looked like he was ready to strangle her. He didn't even take the baby, either. He gave her up for adoption. Moon had lost trace of what happened to her after that... but she honestly didn't care anymore. There was another paper on the table.

 _Hero Ranger Suddenly Resigns_

Moon hadn't been able to recover from that day. She resigned the other day after being called in due to concerns for her well being. She had been slow to going on missions and had obvious issues. It was recommended that she went to therapy but she stopped going. It didn't feel like they were helping her at all. In the end, it was up to her now to recover.

"Oh! There you are, Mahina! Come out here! Someone's here to see you." Her grandmother said.

"Coming, grandma." She said, walking over to the deck.

Moon walked outside to see Lusamine and Lillie. But Lusamine had a baby on her hip. Moon instantly recognized the child.

"It's her." Moon said.

Lusamine smiled and nodded.

"When I heard her father had given her up, I couldn't bare to let her go. So I adopted her. I named her Chrysantha. I just thought you'd want to see her again if you were awake." Lusamine said.

Moon hesitantly reached up and Lusamine allowed her to hold the child once more. Chrysantha shifted uncomfortably during the exchange but was right at home in Moon's arms. Overcome with emotion, Moon couldn't help but hold her close and cry. Deep down, she knew that if she didn't cut Chrysantha out of her mother, she would have died, too. As she stood there with her in her arms, Moon finally acknowledged that she needed to let go of her guilt... but that didn't mean she had let go of the trauma. Her grandmother put her hand on Moon's shoulder. Moon soon calmed down and looked over at her grandmother.

"I think it's time we moved to the Alola region and be with the rest of our family. What do you say? We can have a fresh start." She said.

Moon nodded.

"Okay..." She said, adjusting Chrysantha in her arms.

"You'll love it there. I can't wait until I go back and try the island challenge. I just got my third badge here recently." Lillie said.

"I'm still thinking about being a trainer. Pokemon battles never have been my strong suit so I rather not be a trainer just to needlessly hurt pokemon." Moon said.

"If being a trainer doesn't suit you, the Aether Foundation could use someone like you. It's not the same as being a ranger but you still get to help people and pokemon. My son and my friend, Wicke, run it at the moment. I think you'd thrive there." Lusamine said.

"I'll think about it. I'm not entirely sure yet. I need to... I need to sort some things out on my own." Moon said.

"Take all the time you need, sweet Moon." Lusamine said.

"Yeah, there's no rush. The Alola region has a lot to it. You should go try mantine surfing! Sun told me it was probably something you would have liked. He told me a lot about you." Lillie said.

Moon started to feel guilty for not talking to him for so long.

"I haven't been able to talk to him... not since that storm." Moon said.

"That's awful! He told me you and him usually call or text each other everyday!" Lillie said.

"I know. It's just that I know when I hear his voice... I don't know. I feel so different since that whole thing." Moon said.

"You need to heal. Call up your brother when you can. It can only help." Lusamine said.

Moon nodded and gave Chrysantha back to Lusamine. The women continued talking about the Alola region and Moon found herself looking forward to going. She used to be reluctant because of everything that happened but now, maybe a fresh start would do her good. Her holocaster suddenly rang. It was Sun. But, this time, she answered it.

* * *

 **That's it for this chapter. Inspired by the Joplin tornado disaster.**


	6. Company

**Well... here you guys go!  
**

* * *

Moon packed up the last of her belongings. She looked at her now empty room and felt a sense of sadness. A machoke waiting at the door took the last of the boxes downstairs where her grandma directed it to put the boxes into a waiting truck. She had grown up here her whole life. She shared this room with Sun before he moved with their mother to the Alola region. But she took a deep breath and turned away from the vacant room and stepped out of the door with her bag, never again to look at the inside of it. She walked down the empty halls that once had pictures of family, past the empty rooms that use to have beds in them. Her grandma's was on the left and her mother's to the right. Not a single item had been left in the room. Time seemed to fly so fast for the young girl. Already, she and her grandmother have done the last of the packing. In a few hours, the plane will be taking off, too.

Moon looked in the kitchen: the fridge had been cleaned, the stove spotless, the walls of the kitchen had their paintings removed, the dining table and chairs were gone. The living room had now become nothing more than space and the windows were now completely clear of any curtains but as she looked out the window, she noticed a familiar flame. Moon ran outside only to be greeted by all of her partner pokemon.

"Guys! What are you doing here?" Moon asked in surprise.

She got glomped by her Zoroark.

"They came to see you off." A voice said.

Moon was shocked when she saw who it was. She hadn't seen her for a long time.

"Mewtwo! What are you doing here?! I thought you and your mate were-" Moon began.

"My mate and I just heard about everything that happened. When I heard you were also moving away today, I knew I couldn't just let you go without saying good bye to everyone properly." She said, approaching Moon.

Moon stood up and looked out at all of her partner pokemon. Infernape was there with his family. Moon had rescued him from a group of poachers that she apprehended. He helped her fight them off. He had found a mate shortly after Moon released him. It wasn't uncommon for one of his children to join them on some of their missions. He walked up to Moon and gave her a hug, his mate at a distance while some of his younger children ran around them. If he had to pick a trainer, he'd pick Moon but then, he had his family to worry about. Moon started crying. She had gone through so much with him. A young chimchar worriedly hopped onto Moon's shoulder and wiped away her tears. She managed to smile for the young pokemon. Moon was part of her infernape's family. It was tough for them to see her leave, even infernape's mate who never approaches any humans, hated seeing her go.

Next was her Goodra. Moon found her in a dry area as a goomy. A cruel trainer had released her in an area knowing that it was too dry for her to survive. Moon rehabilitated her and she has been part of Moon's team of partners since. Despite how slimy she was, Moon had no problems giving her a tight hug. Goodra nuzzled Moon affectionately before parting from her, several strings of slime hanging between them. They both laughed.

Then a jet of water suddenly shot out at Moon and doused her. It was her water partner, floatzel. He just wanted to make sure she was clean before giving her a great big hug. He then tickled her just to add to her laughter. He always had loved making her laugh. She found him during a flood and they worked together to help pokemon who couldn't swim get to dry ground. She was on the ground laughing by the time he stepped away from her.

Then, set of sturdy arms picked her up from the ground. She smiled and hugged the pokemon who held her close. It was her graveler. She met him during a mission on the mountains. He helped guide her out of a cave. For such a rough and tumble rock type, he was very gentle. He set her down and then a flutter of wings sounded above her head.

It was her braviary whom she rescued as a rufflet. He got swept away from his nest in a violent windstorm but his parents couldn't be found. He landed next to her and rubbed his cheek against hers, Moon's hand coming up to stroke his cheek.

Moon had many other partners coming to send her off: the ampharos she nursed back to health, the scyther who save her from a horde of ariados, the audino who she rescued from hunterss, the banette she befriended in a haunted house, the torterra she had helped escape a forest fire, and many others.

All of them lived in the wild as required of the majority of the partner pokemon. Most rangers weren't permitted to keep pokemon in Almia and Fiore. She could have caught her partners when she was deployed here after graduating the academy but Moon never thought she'd make a good trainer. So she kept them as her wild partners.

Finally, her most beloved partner, the first pokemon she had ever befriended even during school, her shiny zoroark. But, she wasn't sad. Instead, she had something for Moon in her paws. She gave it to her and Moon was shocked to see a pokeball. Mewtwo smiled.

"She wants to go with you." Mewtwo said.

"But I'm not sure if I want to be a trainer." Moon said.

Zoroark rolled her eyes and said something.

"I agree. You don't have to be a trainer to have pokemon. Please, Moon. I think it would be best for her if she came with you." Mewtwo said.

Moon looked at zoroark and smiled.

"Alright. You can come with me, Zera." Moon said.

Zera smiled and pressed a claw to the center of the pokeball, letting the red light envelope her and disappearing into the ball. Moon never believed in nicknaming pokemon unless they agreed to come with or chose it for themselves. The ball didn't even move as the red light on the button glowed but then faded, signifying that Zera was caught. Moon held the ball close.

"Moon, you need to drop the attitude of whether or not you'd make a good trainer." Mewtwo said.

"But I don-" She began.

"Moon, look at all of these pokemon you've befriended and taken as your partner pokemon. Are they really all that different from the pokemon trainers keep? Do you really think that this many of them would have partnered with you if they didn't think you would be a good, trustworthy, partner? Do you think I would have?" She asked.

Moon looked around and all of them gave her encouraging smiles, infernape nodding at her. Eighteen pokemon, one of each type, was the permitted amount of pokemon a ranger could partner with. But, they were also here with their families, mates, and other pokemon that Moon had either helped or had been helping her. Then there was Mewtwo... a pokemon she had just ran into by chance one day. She didn't even need her styler. Their friendship happened naturally and Mewtwo trusted Moon enough to listen to her during missions. No... not just anyone could develop that kind of relationship with a pokemon like mewtwo much less be able to develop and maintain a bond with these other pokemon.

"Rangers aren't that much different from pokemon trainers. Don't sell yourself short, Moon. Just because your brother was better at battling than you are does not mean you're weak." Mewtwo said.

Moon smiled and held Zera's ball close to her chest.

"You're right. Maybe I should stop comparing myself to him." Moon said.

"Exactly." Mewtwo said, putting an arm on her shoulders.

Moon gave her psychic partner a hug.

"Moon, I hate to interrupt this but, it's time to go. We'll be late." Her grandma said.

Moon felt tears well up in her eyes but she swallowed the lump in her throat and let go of Mewtwo. She then waved at the rest of the pokemon.

"Thank you! Everyone! I couldn't have done any of my missions without you guys! I'll miss all of you!" Moon said before getting into the truck.

She hung out of the window and continued to wave goodbye until the crowd disappeared over the horizon. Then Mewtwo hovered next to the window.

"You'll make a great trainer. I know it. I'll see you again one day, Moon." She said, nudging her forehead before flying away.

Moon felt so many emotions well up inside of her as she watched her disappear into the sky. Tears fell down her face as she cried silently. But then, she swallowed her sadness when they pulled into the airport. She had finally decided what she was going to do: she was going to become a pokemon trainer and take the island challenge. When she's finished that, then she'll see if maybe just once, she could best her brother in a pokemon battle.

* * *

The young Type: Null was scared... and wet... and tired... and cold. She didn't trust anyone or anything since she escaped from the Aether foundation. But, nevertheless, exhaustion had taken hold and the moment she dragged herself onto dry land, she passed out. She also got scraped up badly from being slammed around in the ocean. Lucky for her, the pokemon of Alola are compassionate. An old drampa had found her and took her to his den to rest. She was scared of him when she woke up, hurling an attack straight at him.

"Whoa! Calm down, young one! I'm not going to hurt you!" He said.

"Go away!" The Type: Null snarled.

"Telepathy! You can speak with humans!" He said in surprise.

"Go away!" She snarled, backing against the wall of the cave in fear.

"Child, this is my cave. I'm not just going to go away. And I can't leave a young thing here alone in that condition. You need to relax." He said, approaching her.

"No! Bad! Stop!" She said, panicked.

He paused, his head cocking to the side. Is she alright?

"It's okay." he said, continuing to walk to her.

"No!" She said, pressing herself into the wall.

"You need to have your wounds fixed. You're splitting them open again." He said, reaching his neck forward.

She froze when his mouth met the wound on her shoulder. He gently groomed it while she huddled against the wall. She whimpered from both fear and the slight pain of him grooming the wound. Soon, she eventually relaxed when she realized it wasn't hurting anymore. The old drampa backed away from her.

"There, see? All better." He said.

She looked at him curiously.

"You don't talk much, do you?" He asked.

"Talk.. better?" She said, not sure what those words mean yet.

"Huh. Just how young are you? A lot of young pokemon would have a decent vocabulary pretty early but you don't really seem to have any." He said.

She still didn't entirely know what to say or what he was saying. This was due to mostly being raised in a cell with no contact with others except for the horrendous things done to her. But she wasn't biologically even a year old either. She had a long way to go.

"Don't worry, young one. I'll take care of you until you're able to fend for yourself." The drampa assured her.

* * *

Moon awoke in her brother's bed in the evening. She arrived in Alola that morning but hadn't slept at all on the plane ride over. Her mother's meowth was resting next to her. She smiled and petted him and he stretched, giving Moon a mix of a greeting and a yawn. Moon stood up and stretched. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and got up. The house was having some more rooms built onto it so that she and her grandma could have their own rooms. She walked out of the room to see her mom and grandma catching up at the table while eating dinner. There was a strange man eating with them.

"Hey, Moon! Over here! I'd like you to meet someone." Her mother, Kalani, said.

"I'll get you something to eat." Her grandma, Kana, said.

Moon sat at the table across from the man. He was wearing a lab coat with no shirt on. She had a feeling she already knew who he was. Her brother has told her a lot about his journey and the people he's met.

"This is professor Kukui." Her mother, Kalani, said.

"I kind of figured. It's nice to meet you. My brother told me a lot about you." Moon said with a friendly smile.

"I've heard a lot about you, too. I'm so glad to finally meet the champion's sister! Not to mention the girl who saved hundreds of lives after that monster tornado in Kanto. That's amazing! Your brother was so proud of you when he saw it on the news!" Kukui said.

Moon felt a pang of sadness in her chest and her mother and grandmother cringed. Of course that story had been glorified to no end. Kukui looked around in confusion.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" He asked.

Moon quickly recovered and gave him a big bright smile... one that was too bright in her grandma's opinion. If Moon has a genuine smile, it's a small soft smile unless she's laughing. Her mother and grandmother looked at her worriedly still.

"It's no problem! I was happy to help! I did what I would have done for anyone!" She said.

Kukui was reassured for a second but he didn't feel comfortable when he looked at Kalani and Kana. Something wasn't right but he decided to ignore it at the moment.

"So, are you thinking about choosing your starter before you start your island challenge?" Kukui asked, changing the subject.

"I already have a pokemon. Am I still allowed to have one?" Moon asked.

"Of course! It wouldn't be fair if we didn't allow it. Unless you refuse, of course." Kukui said.

"Alright. Do you still have the pokemon that Hau and my brother didn't pick? I think that one would need a home." She said.

"Sure do! It's popplio. Are you sure you want it?" He asked.

"Yes! I would gladly take it!" Moon said happily.

Kukui released the Poplio and she looked around curiously.

"Alright but lets see what she thinks of you first." He said, releasing her.

"Not at the dinner table. Could you guys please wait?" Kana said.

"Alright." Kukui said.

"I'll get her some food." Moon said, taking some of the berries from the table.

Moon put the berries down for the popplio to eat, a mix of berries since Moon didn't know what she would like. She picked a lum berry, a pinap berry, a chesto berry, and a pecha berry. Popplio thanked Moon before chowing down on all of them. She ate anything from the looks of it.

"Not a picky eater is she?" Moon asked.

"Nope. She's always easy to feed." Professor Kukui said.

So that meant that popplio had a hardy, quirky, bashful, docile, or serious nature. She wasn't shy enough to be bashful and in no way looked at all serious. So that left docile, hardy, and quirky. Moon contemplated the possibilities as she ate supper. Obviously, this meal was cooked by grandma. She's been anxious to get back and cook the way she used to. It was a wonderful meal. Then, the door opened.

"I'm home!" Sun said.

"Hey, Kalani!" Hau said, following after him.

Moon smiled wide and waved at her brother.

"Hey, Sunny." She said.

"Moon Moon!" He said, bolting over to her and pulling her into a tight hug.

Both siblings laughed in delight. It had been almost two years since they last saw each other. He kept his arm around her shoulders as he turned to face Hau.

"Moon, this is my best friend, Hau." He said.

Hau walked up and took her hand, wearing his big signature grin.

"It's great to finally meet you, Moon!" He said, enthusiastically.

"And where's my hug?" Kana asked.

Sun chuckled and walked up to his grandmother to give her a proper hug. Then he looked around the room and frowned.

"Wasn't Gladion with us?" Sun asked.

"Maybe he got cold feet." Hau said.

"Oh just because we joked about setting him up with Moon doesn't mean we are going to actually do that... yet." Sun said.

Moon blushed and Hau laughed before walking towards the door.

"Sun!" She said, flustered.

"Hey, I thought you were on board with it." He said.

"Well yeah... er, I mean, no!" She said, getting even more flustered.

Everyone laughed.

"I'll go get him." Hau said, walking out the door.

"Just don't make this anymore weird please." Moon said, shifting uncomfortably.

"Hey, it'll only be awkward if you make it awkward, Moon Moon." Sun said.

Of course, Sun and Hau are only joking and Moon also joked about it before the tornado hit. No one was thinking anything serious about it. Gladion was just outside because he thought he heard something. Hau dragged Gladion in. Gladion only just started hanging out with Sun and Hau more. Mostly because Sun and Hau were persistent in befriending him and insisted he would come and meet Moon. Gladion's midnight Lycanroc sniffed the air before walking after the boys. Moon's Zoroark grinned and rustled through the grass and into the deck beside the house. She was being playful and pranked Gladion into thinking something was out there. Meanwhile, he was hoping he found the missing Type: Null but he had a feeling she wasn't there anyway. Zera went into the house and innocently stood by Moon, nuzzling her face as Gladion walked in.

"I got him." Hau said.

"Hey, I can walk on my own. Let go." Gladion said.

Hau finally let go of him and Moon was preoccupied with Zera. Lycanroc, however, was instantly smitten. He stared at Zera, already dazed.

"Zera! Cut it out!" Moon giggled.

Zera looked over at Gladion and then at his lycanroc. She decided to go and greet them. Zera normally ignored other people but when someone catches her eye, she gets curious. She bounded over to Gladion and sniffed him curiously. Gladion reached up hesitantly and petted her cheek. She stopped and for a moment, it looked like he shouldn't have done that but then she leaned into his hand and nuzzled him. Lycanroc looked on jealously but finally, she moved to inspect him. He tensed up and she continuously sniffed him curiously and he grew shy. Gladion raised an eyebrow at his lycanroc because he was normally a little prejudice against strange pokemon and didn't let them get too close. So him letting any kind of pokemon come close to him like this without a threatening growl or a nip was unusual. Finally she nudged him flirtatiously and Lycanroc blushed. Satisfied with her investigation, Zera went straight back to Moon. Moon waved at Gladion.

"Alola!" She greeted.

"Um... Hi." He said, hesitantly.

Huh... So this was Moon? Sun has shown him pictures a long time ago when her hair was shorter but now her hair was in braids. He found that he preferred her with braids... 'wait, whoa! She's 12! Nope.' He thought although unable to stifle a slight blush. Sun kept his arm around Moon. He didn't like the vibe he got off of her. Now that she and Gladion were in the same room, they both carried a similar vibe... they were both hurt in a similar way... a way that may never heal completely. Sun cringed internally. He knew Moon went through something horrible but she never went into detail. He will have to ask later when no one else was around. For now, he decided to try and focus on trying to occupy both of his hurt friends from whatever they went through. Hell! That was the main reason he and Hau insisted on keeping Gladion around. He needed people whether he'll admit it or not. And now, so did Moon... but honestly, deep down, she just really wanted to start her trial and get away from everyone. She wanted space.

* * *

The drampa walked over to where his new charge was laying. She had calmed down considerably but shied from contact, even if it was for grooming and cleaning her wounds. Drampa, however, didn't care if she complained: if she needed cleaning and her wounds had any dirt in them, she was getting groomed. Not wanting to anger her current companion and potentially risking danger to herself, she puts up with his care. Of course, when all you've known your whole life was pain and violation, care and compassion became confusing and almost off putting. Was he trying to be her mate? The only time this attention had been shown to her was from her mate in the labs. Nevertheless, if he was trying to mate, she will run at the first sign of it. For now, however, she was too tired to really complain about the unwanted care.

 _'Does a young thing like you have a mother?'_ Drampa asked.

"Mother?" She asked.

 _'Someone who took care of you since you hatched from an egg. They love you very much.'_ He said.

"Love?" The Type: Null asked in confusion.

 _'...We have a long way to go, don't we? Oh well. You wouldn't be the first young one I've raised. I'll make sure to teach you what I know. You'll be just another one of my many children and grandchildren.'_ Drampa said to her.

The old drampa was beloved by many and, true to his nature, he was one of the kindest pokemon, especially to children and young pokemon. He's raised countless orphans into maturity, helped several children during their trials, and battled young trainers many times if he found them to be needing practice. If they're strong, he'll go all out. But drampa has slowed down in his old age. Most drampas look old but he did especially; his fur was longer and more tattered and shaggy, his beard was way longer, his eyes were slightly paler, and his scales around his mouth and face were faded. He watched type; null from his side of the cave, understanding her need for space. But, with as high as they were in the mountain, he knew that as the sun falls, she was going to get cold. Sure enough, she was shivering by nightfall. He finally relented and laid next to her. She struggled to get away but the numbing cold was nearly incapacitating her. Drampa rolled his eyes and pulled her back next to him like he would with any stubborn young pokemon.

"No!" She said, struggling.

 _'Young one, if you don't stay close, you'll freeze to death. Come here. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise.'_ He said, pulling her back next to him.

She finally relented and let him set her at his side. He put his furry tail around her to keep her warm. She was tense for a long time, as if expecting something to happen. She was surprised when nothing did. Drampa, seeing that she was finally still, settled down and curled up next to her, his head close to hers as he relaxed. As far as he was concerned, he was just giving a young pokemon some TLC. But she was terrified he was going to violate her for awhile. But, as she warmed up and relaxed a little more, she realized that, for the moment, he wasn't going to do anything. She finally settled down but the spikes on her helmet made it awkward for her to rest her head. Drampa caught on and moved his neck so that the bottom of her helmet was supported, allowing her to finally rest her head completely for the first time in a long time. Her breathing slowed and finally, she was asleep. Drampa soon followed suit, gentle snores rumbling in his chest as he slept. 

* * *

**That's it for now. I figured I should update this story while I have the time. More to come soon.**


	7. Learning

**Back into this story. Sorry, college has been taking up so much of my time lately. Saspra is a common nickname I use for the water starter in my stories.  
**

* * *

Moon was so relieved to finally be out on her own after dinner time. Sun was too tired to follow her and Hau had to go home with Hala. She left out the door with Gladion and she waved goodbye to him before bolting off to get started, Zera, and her quirky popplio, Saspra, at her side. Gladion waved back and stared off after her. Funny ... this wasn't how he imagined Moon to be like. He figured she'd stay with him and talk. Sun even said so himself that Moon was nice but had a tendency to talk your ears off if she liked you. She was quiet though, even to her brother and he's heard how much she talks before. That one time after they battled Lusamine, he told her the whole story on the holocaster. She talked up a storm with him about everything. She even said hi to him briefly before Sun made it awkward for him by joking about the fact that Moon liked him and she nodded enthusiastically the whole time. But, he shrugged it off and chalked it up to her just getting here after moving. Besides, he had the Aether Foundation to worry about and finding the Type: Null that got loose. He was also on his trial, too but, that can wait.

Moon, meanwhile, was having her zoroark and popplio battle so to see what her new starter could do and to raise her up to evolve. She wasn't strong enough to do any serious damage to Zera yet so she could risk getting hit. As she watched them, her mind wandered back to Gladion. He was cute, yeah, her crush hadn't diminished or anything. It's just that she didn't feel like pursuing anything at the moment. And anyway, he was fourteen, nearly fifteen. He probably didn't want someone as young as she was anyway. So she shook off her thoughts about him and went back to working with Zera and Saspra. Saspra knew some basic moves and as far as battling went, she definitely had a ways to go before she'd be ready for actual battles. Moon liked training her pokemon for a few days before battling them. She wasn't going to get them needlessly hurt if they lacked proper experience.

She's had to battle other pokemon before when on the field. Zera was the most experienced when it came to battles. Although, Mewtwo was also experienced. She and Zera made a great team when it came to double battles despite being opposite in type. She wondered if her psychic partner will come visit her someday? She remembered when they even went to visit the lab that made her. She was a result of one of Team Plasma's experiments. They hacked into some Team Rocket data long ago and stumbled upon some data on one of their experiments whom later became her mate a few years after she broke free. Team Plasma underestimated her strength and she freed herself of them. At first, it took her a long time to recover from her trauma in the labs. Even after she recovered for the most part, she rarely ever approached humans, the last time being when she helped genesect.

Shortly after that, she met her mate. He came looking for her after he saw her on the news. He mostly came to ask her about her origin. He could have sworn he deleted all the data about the experiments that made him, not to mention he was sure he erased the memories of those trainers he tricked into coming to his island. He didn't want another one like him to be made. In comparison to him, she was considerably weaker which, was done deliberately on Team Plasma's part. They wanted a strong pokemon but viewed the original as too powerful and so went to make one that would still be powerful but cut that strength in half. However, she still proved to be too powerful and escaped. But, rather than completely destroy the lab, she just flew off until she was too tired to fly anymore. They talked for awhile, if to just get to know each other. It's not everyday they met their own kind after all. The original mewtwo then left to go find the lab that made his female counterpart to go make sure the data gets destroyed.

However, when he figured out where it was, he found that they had already scrapped the information. They labeled the experiment a failure because she was just too powerful to control. Nevertheless, though a scrapped project, he made sure to delete every file involved. After he made sure the data was completely wiped, he left silently. He looked through it beforehand though. The one made here was forced to go through immense torture. Unlike him, she wasn't strong enough to break free at first. The pain just eventually got too much to where she just snapped one day and broke free. He was surprised that all she did was run, never looking back. He himself, when he broke free both times, was angry and wanted to wipe the world of humanity and pokemon who were weaker. He wanted to make a perfect world. He could have done it, too. He nearly did... but then again, it was a stupid idea. Even if he didn't learn better otherwise, other powerful pokemon would have probably stopped him eventually. He also underestimated the resilience of some pokemon. Life would have found a way regardless of what he decided for the world.

When he left the lab, she and him ran into each other again. They decided to travel together since they understood each other. Eventually, they grew to love each other. He never approached humans, either, both of them opting to just keep to their own. So it was surprising to him when his mate became partners with a ranger. But, he respected her choice after getting to observe and know the kind of person Moon was. Moon herself only caught glimpses of him a few times. Once he has helped in a mission but he flew off the moment his help wasn't needed. He and his mate had a mental link. If she was in danger, he instinctively knew and he will come straight to her. Moon always wished he would visit every now and then. It would be nice to meet her friend's mate.

Soon, Saspra got exhausted from battling Zera and was barely on her feet. Moon came out of her thoughts and decided to check.

"Saspra, do you want to stop? You don't have to push yourself. It's only training after all." Moon said with a smile.

But Saspra perked up and shook her head. She wanted to try fighting until she couldn't even stand. What good was she if she couldn't give it her all? Especially after being put with someone as great as Moon. Saspra had watched sadly as other trainers would pick the other two starters and not her. Moon, however, chose her immediately. Saspra couldn't repay her new trainer enough for taking her in and on top of that, be so kind, too. Soon, however, she fainted. Although she did bruise Zera pretty good before going down. Saspra had potential, that's for sure.

"I think she'll be a champion, don't you, Zera?" Moon asked.

Zera nodded with a smile. She too had grown fond of her new young partner. Moon then walked towards Hau'oli city. It was time to heal her pokemon now but, her journey had just begun.

* * *

 _'Come, young one. We're going to go get some food.'_ Drampa said.

The young Type: Null cocked her head in confusion.

"Food?" She asked.

 _'Yeah. Food. Something to eat. I'm hungry. Aren't you?"_ Drampa asked, gently nudging her stomach.

As if on cue, her stomach growled and the old Drampa chuckled.

"Hungry?" She said, looking towards her stomach curiously.

 _'Yes. That's what it means when your stomach growls like that sometimes. Come now. I know where to find some great berries to eat.'_ He said, leading her out of the cave.

The young Type: Null followed him closely, almost stepping on his tail. She was very fearful but so far, she trusted Drampa. He hasn't tried to do anything to her. He taught her how to climb down the mountain, catching her whenever she stumbled and stander her back up if she ever fell. Finally, they reached the bottom of the mountain and to a grove of berries that grew. They soon came to a pile of berries. Drampa cautiously checked a pile, nudging it to make sure no other pokemon was inside of it. No movement occurred. Satisfied, he motioned for Type: Null to come over. He set a berry in front of her. She sniffed it and tried to bite it but all Drampa could hear was her beak scraping the inside of her helmet.

 _"How do you eat with that thing?"_ He said.

She let out a huff and stared at the berry that was now slightly mushed from her efforts. Drampa scanned her helmet, even having her tilt her head up. He saw an opening at the bottom. So he used a slash attack on the berry to cut it into smaller pieces for her.

"Now try." he said.

She scanned the berry slices and then sucked them through the bottom of her helmet with a loud _'shwoop!'_ Satisfied that she could eat, Drampa sliced up some more berries for her and she ate them all up. So this was what food and eating was? She liked these new words. Drampa helped her clean up the bottom of her mask before guiding her to the beach.

 _'You can go play. Just stay within my sight, please._ ' He said.

She again looked at him in question.

"Play?" She asked.

Drampa looked at her for a long time. Has she never played before? That was sad. But, nevertheless, Drampa knew a few old games his old bones could keep up with. He knocked a coconut down from a tree and rolled it to her. She looked at it curiously and nudged it back to him hesitantly. He nudged it back to her. She looked at the coconut and then back at him.

 _'Now nudge it back.'_ He said.

She did so and that was how he taught her to play. Soon, he decided to tease her with it by snatching it from her before she could hit it. He grinned and looked at her expectantly. She tried to hit it again only for him to move it out of the way again. He grinned at her and she soon got the hint. She chased after the coconut and he kept her from getting it for a little while until he eventually knew she deserved to have it back. She squawked triumphantly when she got her talons on the coconut. Then she looked at him expectantly. He could see the amusement and mischief in her eyes. He playfully chased her, acting like she was just too fast for him to get the coconut back. They played all day with that coconut. So this was what it was like to play? She decided she liked this new word, too. Soon, the sun started to set. They had just gotten done eating some more berries when Drampa noticed.

 _'Alright, child. Time to go back home.'_ He said.

Type: Null again looked confused.

"Home?" She asked, some berry juice dripping down her helmet.

 _'Yes, home. Back up the mountain, in the cave. It's getting dark.'_ He said, gently cleaning her mask with soft licks.

Type: Null looked up the mountain. He must mean that cave she figured. But she felt so sore in her legs from playing so hard. She shifted uncomfortably.

"Hurt. Move." Was all she could think to say.

 _'You must be tired from moving so much today. Get on my back. I'll carry you.'_ He said, lowering himself for her to climb on.

She looked at him in confusion. Drampa chuckled and gently lifted her with his mouth and set her onto his back. She yelped when she felt his jaws over her sides and squirmed as he lifted her onto his back. So that was what he meant when he lowered himself like that! She made quick note, not entirely comfortable with the idea of being carried in his mouth like that.

 _'Hang on tight, little one.'_ He said before taking off toward the mountain.

Type: Null clung to him with her talons as he took flight. She was scared and closed her eyes.

 _'Don't be afraid. I'll catch you if you fall. Look around. Isn't it beautiful?'_ He asked her, flying higher.

She hesitantly opened her eyes and was surprised to see such a view; the ocean reflected the orange sunset and it sparkled a mix of copper and orange, the clouds retaining the same tints of color. She looked down to see their island. She could see the mountain to their left and below them were a couple towns that just started lighting up for the night.

 _'This is the island we live on. This is Ula'ula Island.'_ He told her.

Soon, he landed in front of their cave and he lowered himself. Type: Null shakily slid off of his back. She stumbled but he caught her with his muzzle. He then nudged her into the cave. He then arranged his nest in the cave so that way it was more comfortable and then he laid down.

 _'Alright. Time to go to sleep. You look tired. Come here and get warm.'_ He said, looking at her expectantly.

She hesitantly walked over to him and settled herself next to his side just like the night before. He then put his fluffy tail over her and curled his neck around so that she could use it to rest her helmet on. She plopped against his neck and let out a contented sigh. Drampa smiled, adjusting his tail a little more.

 _'Sweet dreams, little one.'_ He said, slowly closing his eyes.

She was already drifting off to sleep. That day had to have been the best day she had ever had in her life... and it was going to be their daily routine from that day forward. Home, sleep, warm... those words gave her comfort. They were her favorite words. She had experienced many different emotions that day but so far, she did not have any words for what she felt right now. She felt safe for once. Not only that but she was happy to be with Drampa. She couldn't place what she was feeling but, with his help, she will soon learn everything she needed to know.

But Drampa also felt bittersweet for caring for her. He could feel it in his bones; his time was close. He wasn't going to be with her for long. Will he have the energy to care for this young pokemon until she could fend for herself? But, all he could do for now was make sure she was at least warm. He wasn't going to leave her yet.

* * *

 **I know this is a short chapter but, I wanted to post at least one more just to bring this story back from Haitus for a bit. I haven't given up. I've just been really busy with school.**


End file.
